the DON JONES INDEX… dow Mon The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 52,182.74, gaining 306.63 points (+0.59%). This set a fresh record high for the blue-chip index, pushing it past the 52,000 milestone for the first time. [1, 2]
	GAINS POSTED in GREEN LOSSES POSTED in RED 7/1 6/26/26... @ (revised) Explain below 6/26/26… 15,966.29 * 6/19/26… 15,629.57 6/27/13... 15,000.00 *anomalous
(THE DOW JONES INDEX: 6/26... 51,920.62 ; 6/19... 51,564.70; 6/27/13… 15,000.00)

LESSON for FRIDAY, JUNE 26, 2026 – “LUCKY THIRTEEN!”

Monday was both Father’s Day and the first day of summer – a summer already well in progress with heat, storms, wildfires, tornadoes and... now... a few earthquakes.

USA Today (June 20^th, ATTACHMENT “A”) noted that Monday was also host to “themed observances like International Yoga Day and National Smoothie Day.”

“Father's Day is a day to honor dads across the country, and this year they'll have a bit more daylight to barbecue, go golfing or relax by the pool thanks to the solstice, which brings the longest day and shortest night of the year.” And summer is... well... summer

“The fun doesn't stop there! In addition to celebrating dads,” USAT reported, “you can also enjoy a refreshing smoothie, take selfies, eat cookie dough and unwind with a bit of yoga.

Other Monday events included...

· National Seashell Day (especially for James Comey!)

· National Day of the Gong

· World Giraffe Day (for Gracie, below)

· National Turkey Lovers Day (but not at FIFA)

Thirteen years ago, the first Don Jones Index added up the brightsides, toted down the downsides and painted a picture portrait of America – as it existed in 2013.

Over the years, as some categories improved, some worsened and a few were so volatile that they threatened the integrity of the data, occasional reconfigurations were made. Now, thirteen years after the beginning, it’s time to reconfigure again. See data below and as Attachment “B”.

Now what exactly IS the summer solstice? Is it really the longest day of the year? The Old Farmer’s Almanac (ATTACHMENT ONE) welcomed the solstice with some interesting facts, folklore, charts and graphs (see here).

THE TIME

The June solstice occurs on Sunday, June 21, at 4:24 A.M. EDT. Curious what time 4:24 A.M. EDT is where you live? The OFA recommends their Time Zone Converter.

“This solstice marks the official beginning of summer in the Northern Hemisphere, occurring when Earth arrives at the point in its orbit where the North Pole is at its maximum tilt (about 23.5 degrees) toward the Sun, resulting in the longest day and shortest night of the calendar year. (By longest “day,” we mean the longest period of sunlight hours.) On the day of the June solstice, the Northern Hemisphere receives sunlight at the most direct angle of the year. 

“In the Southern Hemisphere, the June solstice marks the beginning of winter.” 

Summer Solstice Dates and Times (Future)
Year	Summer Solstice (Northern Hemisphere)	Summer Solstice (Southern Hemisphere)
2026	Sunday, June 21, at 4:24 A.M. EDT	Monday, December 21
2027	Monday, June 21, at 10:11 A.M. EDT	Tuesday, December 21
2028	Tuesday, June 20, at 4:01 P.M. EDT	Thursday, December 21
2029	Wednesday, June 20, at 9:47 P.M. EDT	Friday, December 21

WHAT IS THE SUMMER SOLSTICE?

In the Northern Hemisphere, the June solstice (aka summer solstice) occurs when the Sun reaches its highest and northernmost points in the sky. It marks the start of summer in the northern half of the globe. (In contrast, the June solstice in the Southern Hemisphere is when the Sun is at its lowest point in the sky, marking the start of winter.)

“Solstice comes from the Latin words sol (sun) and sistere (to stand still). Due to Earth’s tilted axis, the Sun doesn’t rise and set at the same locations on the horizon each morning and evening; its rise and set positions move northward or southward in the sky as Earth travels around the Sun through the year. Also, the Sun’s track in the sky becomes higher or lower throughout the year. The June solstice is significant because the Sun reaches its northernmost point in the sky at this time, at which point the Sun’s path does not change for a brief period of time.

After the solstice, the Sun appears to reverse course and head back in the opposite direction. The motion referred to here is the apparent path of the Sun when one views its position in the sky at the same time each day, for example, at local noon. Over the year, its path forms a sort of flattened figure eight, called an analemma. Of course, the Sun itself is not moving (unless you consider its orbit around the Milky Way galaxy); instead, this change in position in the sky that we on Earth notice is caused by the tilt of Earth’s axis as it orbits the Sun, as well as Earth’s elliptical, rather than circular, orbit.”

DOES THE SOLSTICE ALWAYS OCCUR ON THE SAME DAY?

The timing of the June solstice is not based on a specific calendar date or time; it all depends on when the Sun reaches its northernmost point from the celestial equator. Therefore, the solstice won’t always occur on the same day. Currently, it shifts between June 20, 21, and 22.

THE YEAR’S LONGEST DAY

The Summer Solstice is the day with the longest period of sunlight. Notice how the Sun appears highest in the sky at the solstice; its rays strike Earth at a more direct angle, causing the efficient warming we call summer.

For those locations at the Tropic of Cancer and northward, the Sun is highest in the sky on the June solstice, and you’ll notice that your shadow (at local, or solar, noon, not clock-time noon) is the shortest that it will be all year (in fact, at the Tropic of Cancer, there will be no shadow). [Local noon is when the Sun crosses the local meridian (an imaginary line between the North and South poles) and is highest in the sky for the day.]

For those who live in the Southern Hemisphere, the June solstice is the shortest day of the year and marks the arrival of winter.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS:

IS THE SUMMER SOLSTICE THE FIRST DAY OF SUMMER?

“Yes and no… Technically, it depends on whether we’re speaking about the meteorological or astronomical start of the season. Most meteorologists divide the year into four seasons based on the months and the temperature cycle; this allows climate data to be compared and organized more easily. In this system, summer begins on June 1 and ends on August 31. Therefore, the summer solstice is not considered to be the first day of summer, meteorologically speaking.

“Astronomically, however, the first day of summer is said to be when the Sun reaches its highest point in the sky, which occurs on the summer solstice (June 20–22). Therefore, the summer solstice is considered to be the first day of summer, astronomically speaking. 

“As an almanac, which is defined as a “calendar of the heavens,” the OFA reported, “we prefer to follow the astronomical interpretation of the seasons and consider the first day of summer to coincide with the summer solstice. That being said, you may choose to follow whichever system you like best!

“There is also a common debate regarding how the exact timing of the solstice affects the first day of the season. For example, if the solstice occurs at 11:30 P.M. on a Saturday, should we consider that Saturday to be the first day of summer, or should we instead consider the following day (Sunday) to be the first day? It tends to differ by whichever source you follow.”

IS THE SUMMER SOLSTICE THE LONGEST DAY OF THE YEAR?

“Yes!” the OFA reports.  As spring ends and summer begins, the daily periods of sunlight lengthen to their longest on the solstice, then begin to shorten again.

On the solstice, the Sun is at its highest point in the sky, and it takes longer for it to rise and set. (Note: When the Sun appears highest in the sky near the summer solstice, the Full Moon opposite the Sun generally appears lowest in the sky!)

On the winter solstice, just the opposite occurs: The Sun is at its lowest in the sky. At this time, the Sun’s rays hit part of Earth at an oblique angle, creating feeble winter sunlight.

WHY DOESN’T THE SUMMER SOLSTICE FALL ON THE SAME DATE EACH YEAR?

“The summer solstice in the Northern Hemisphere ranges in date from June 20 to 22. This occurs in part because of the difference between the Gregorian calendar system, which normally has 365 days, and the tropical year (how long it takes Earth to orbit the Sun once), which has about 365.242199 days. To compensate for the missing fraction of days, the Gregorian calendar adds a leap day about every 4 years, which makes the date for summer jump backward. However, the date also changes because of other influences, such as the gravitational pull from the Moon and planets, as well as the slight wobble in Earth’s rotation.”

WHY ISN’T THE SUMMER SOLSTICE—THE LONGEST DAY OF THE YEAR—ALSO THE HOTTEST DAY OF THE YEAR?

“Earth’s atmosphere, land, and oceans absorb part of the incoming energy from the Sun and store it, releasing it back as heat at various rates. Water is slower to heat (or cool) than air or land. At the summer solstice, the Northern Hemisphere receives the most energy (highest intensity) from the Sun due to the angle of sunlight and day length. However, the land and oceans are still relatively cool due to spring temperatures, so the maximum heating effect on air temperature is not felt just yet. Eventually, the land—and especially the oceans—will release stored heat from the summer solstice back into the atmosphere. This usually results in the year’s hottest temperatures appearing in late July, August, or later, depending on latitude and other factors. This effect is called seasonal temperature lag.”

WHAT IS MIDSUMMER DAY (JUNE 24)?

“Historically, Midsummer Day marked the midpoint of the growing season, halfway between planting and harvest. It is traditionally known as one of four “quarter days” in some cultures—folks celebrate by feasting, dancing, singing, and preparing for the hot summer days ahead. Read more about the ancient Quarter Days!”

CELEBRATING THE SOLSTICE

“Go strawberry picking,” the OFA suggests. Enjoy a big bowl of strawberries and cream on the solstice.

“There are many people—like the Swedes—who celebrate the beginning of summer by eating the first strawberries of the season. Indulging in some strawberries and cream is the perfect way to celebrate the June solstice since June’s Full Moon is also known as the Strawberry Moon. It typically coincided with the ripening of strawberries in what is now the northeastern and midwestern United States. In fact, in many states, this is the perfect time to go strawberry picking! Look up pick-your-own-strawberry farms in your area!”

HAVE A SOLSTICE EVENING BONFIRE!

Many northern people also celebrate a solstice holiday known as Midsummer’s Day on June 24, which is one of the four ancient quarter days of the year. The eve prior is called Midsummer’s Eve, marking the shortest night of the year.

“A common way to celebrate is to have a bonfire party! After all, these northern people have emerged from some long, dark winters! In the Austrian state of Tyrol, torches and bonfires are lit up on mountainsides, which is a stunningly beautiful sight.

“According to ancient Latvian legend, Midsummer’s Eve (St. John’s Eve) on June 23 is spent awake by the glow of a bonfire and in pursuit of a magical fern flower—said to bring good luck—before cleansing one’s face in the morning dew.”

SEASONS ON OTHER PLANETS

· Mercury has virtually no tilt (less than one-thirtieth of a degree) relative to the plane of its orbit and, therefore, does not experience true seasons.

· Uranus is tilted by almost 98 degrees and has seasons that last 21 years.

SUMMER SOLSTICE FOLKLORE

· Deep snow in winter, tall grain in summer. –Estonian proverb

· When the summer birds take their flight, goes the summer with them.

· If it rains on Midsummer’s Eve, the filbert crops will be spoiled. –Unknown

· One swallow never made a summer.

· Easterly winds from May 19 to 21 indicate a dry summer.

· If there are many falling stars during a clear summer evening, expect thunder. If there are none, expect fine weather.

In a rare conjunction of coincidences, the summer solstice and Father’s Day both transpire on Monday – authorized by no less authority than President Donald Trump (see ATTACHMENT TWO).

“The American father has always stood as the most enduring pillar of our Nation,” the President posted.  “He provides for his family through hard work, personal sacrifice, and an unrelenting refusal to quit.  He protects his loved ones and his home with an unshakable resolve, and he defends the American way of life by raising children who love our country, honor our history, and carry our proud traditions with them into the future.  He shapes the next generation, passing down the great American values of faith, personal responsibility, and sense of duty that have defined our way of life for two and a half centuries.  The strength and self-sacrifice of our fathers are the foundation upon which our great Nation was built, and it is their devotion that preserves the nuclear family as one of the most powerful and enduring forces for good in our country.”

Turning to himself, POTUS boasted that, as President, “I was proud to launch the historic Trump Accounts because responsible fatherhood means preparing children for success, and this initiative gives parents a new way to invest in their children’s future and the promise of the next generation.  Through the Working Families Tax Cuts Act, we are putting more money back into the pockets of hardworking dads, who power our Nation and whose dedication has been the lifeblood of American prosperity for generations.  We are also keeping our neighborhoods safe by securing our borders, removing deadly drugs and criminal illegal aliens from our streets, and standing firmly behind the police and prosecutors—and as a result, violent crime has dropped to the lowest levels our country has seen in over 80 years.  We are delivering these incredible victories for the same reason:  to give fathers across our country the freedom and opportunity to build the American Dream for the people they love most.”

My Administration will always stand behind America’s fathers, “working tirelessly to ensure every father and his family experience the full promise and prosperity of this new Golden Age of America.”

See Also...

· Father’s Day, 2025

Presidential Actions, Proclamations

Presidential Message on Mother’s Day

Briefings & Statements

Presidential Message on the Feast of Saint Joseph

Briefings & Statements

Presidential Message on Victory Day for World War I

Briefings & Statements

Presidential Message on the Birthday of President John Adams 

TIMEANDDATE.com (ATTACHMENT THREE) asked and answered more Father’s Day historical questions, such as...

WHEN IS FATHER’S DAY IN THE US?

In the United States, Father’s Day is celebrated on the third Sunday of June.

IS FATHER’S DAY A PUBLIC HOLIDAY?

Father’s Day is not a federal holiday, but it is recognized as a state legal holiday in Arizona. However, this recognition does not mean it is a paid public holiday.

Most government offices and some businesses remain closed, as is typical for Sundays. However, many restaurants and retail stores stay open, and some may offer special hours or promotions for families.

HISTORY OF FATHER’S DAY IN THE US

The idea of celebrating Father’s Day started in the early 1900s. In 1908, Grace Golden Clayton held a church service in Fairmont, West Virginia, to honor fathers who died in the 1907 mining disaster in Monongah, West Virginia.

A year later, Sonora Smart Dodd, a young woman from Spokane, Washington, proposed a national Father’s Day. Inspired by a Mother’s Day sermon, she wanted to honor her father, William Jackson Smart, a Civil War veteran and widower who raised his six children alone.

Sonora approached the Spokane Ministerial Alliance for support. Although she suggested June 5, her father’s birthday, the alliance opted for the third Sunday in June to give pastors more time to prepare their sermons.

With help from local churches, community groups, and the Spokane Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA), the first Father’s Day celebration was held on June 19, 1910.

In 1916, President Woodrow Wilson visited Spokane and spoke at a Father’s Day service, showing early presidential support. The idea gained momentum over time.

By the 1930s, advertisers and retailers began promoting Father’s Day as a commercial holiday, encouraging people to buy gifts and cards. The National Council for the Promotion of Father’s Day helped push the holiday into wider public acceptance through marketing campaigns.

In 1966, President Lyndon B. Johnson issued a presidential proclamation recognizing Father’s Day. In 1972, President Richard Nixon signed it into law as an official national observance.

Other celebrants celebrate the day in different ways. In the sporting life, summer and Father’s Day have been absorbed into tributes for Father Knickerbocker in New York. On the opposite coast, new Dodger Dad Shohei Otani celebrated the birth of a son with a home run. @ @

And if it’s summer, it must be hot.

And, this summer, the heat is being ramped up to the brink of lethality (and for some, beyond).

The torrid times have been building for a few years now. Nearly two years ago, Weather.com (ATTACHMENT FOUR) noted the last day in August to list the best and worst weather cities for the summer of 2024.

Saturday wrapped up summer 2024, and while some locations in the U.S. have seen relatively little excessive heat or thunderstorms, others have been much less fortunate.

Meteorologists group the seasons into clean three-month buckets based on annual temperatures, not strictly on the tilted Earth's path around the sun. Meteorological summer runs from June through August.

Our three best and worst weather cities in summer 2024 Weather.com deduced were...

WORST WEATHER CITIES OF SUMMER 2024

3. Boise, Idaho

Boise sweltered through its second-hottest summer in records dating to before Idaho's statehood, behind only 2021. It tied for its second-most days with triple-digit heat (20) and had its second-hottest daily low temperature of 82 degrees on July 22. That's a low typical of the Gulf Coast in summer, not a semi-arid Great Basin city at 2,700 feet elevation.

But it wasn't just the heat.

A rash of wildfires in the Great Basin and interior Northwest, both in Idaho and adjacent states, pumped plumes of smoke over Idaho's Treasure Valley. According to data from the Environmental Protection Agency, the Boise metro area had at least "unhealthy" air quality 17 days from July into August. At times, it reached very unhealthy levels, and was among the nation's worst air quality.

(Further beef up your forecast with our detailed, hour-by-hour breakdown for the next 8 days – only available on our Premium Pro experience.)

2. St. Johnsbury, Vermont

In July 2023, Vermont and other parts of the Northeast were swamped by massive flooding that claimed 10 lives and cost an estimated $2.2 billion damage. This past July, the Green Mountain State was hit by two destructive floods.

From July 10-11, up to 6 inches of rain from the remnants of Hurricane Beryl washed away roads and inundated homes and businesses in upstate New York and northern Vermont, claiming two lives.

Just 19 days later, a small area of torrential rain overnight from July 29-30 destroyed homes and washed out roads in Vermont's "Northeast Kingdom".

“St. Johnsbury, Vermont, hit by both events, had two of its four wettest days on record dating to 1894 and topped its previous record wettest month by over 6 inches.

If that wasn't enough, they also had their hottest summer in their 131-year record book.”

And the worst weather city of Summer, 2024 was...

1. Ruidoso, New Mexico

As impactful as the twin Vermont floods were, nowhere in the U.S. endured nearly the parade of events as one New Mexico town.

It began the day after Father's Day when two large wildfires flared up near Ruidoso. One of those, the South Fork fire, prompted an evacuation of this town in the Sierra Blanca Mountains about 135 miles south-southeast of Albuquerque. The fires charred more than 1,500 structures and 500 homes, the Albuquerque Journal reported, and claimed two lives.

That was only the opening chapter of this saga. New Mexico's monsoon season then kicked into gear, with nearly daily thunderstorm downpours running off ground singed by the fires, triggering muddy, debris-strewn flows into Ruidoso and neighboring towns.

The National Weather Service issued flash flood warnings for these debris flows in Ruidoso an incredible 25 separate days from June 19 through August 29. On eight of those days, flooding was serious enough to prompt the NWS to upgrade to a rarely-issued flash flood emergency for the town.

“Imagine fearing an isolated, slow-moving summer thunderstorm for weeks after a wildfire chased you from your home,” Weather.com postulated...

Other rough summer 2024 weather listed behind the Top Three included...

- Chicago: While summer's heat wasn't extreme, the July 15 derecho not only knocked out power to hundreds of thousands, but also spawned 32 tornadoes in northeast Illinois and northwest Indiana, the most on record for any day in the forecast area covered by the NWS-Chicago office.

- Houston: Hurricane Beryl triggered massive power outages lasting for days during what was a top 10 hottest summer.

- Oxford, Connecticut: This part of southwest Connecticut measured up to 14.83 inches of rain on August 18 in what may have been the state's heaviest 24-hour rainfall on record, topping rain from 1955's Hurricane Diane. The destructive flash flooding claimed at least two lives.

- Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands: Ernesto flooded roads and knocked out power to hundreds of thousands. It was also San Juan's hottest summer on record.

- South Carolina: Up to 22 inches of rain from Debby flooded parts of the Palmetto State for weeks after.

BEST WEATHER CITIES OF SUMMER 2024

It wasn't all gloom and doom. Let's end on a happier note, wrote Weather.com’s Jonathan Erdman, “and highlight a couple of cities where summer's heat was relatively under control and weather was more delightful than usual.”

SEATTLE

Except for a sizzling early July, summer wasn't persistently hot in Seattle. Both June and August were cooler than average.

And while wildfires were a frequent problem in the interior Northwest, Seattle didn't see much wildfire smoke, according to EPA data.

Temperature departures from average (degrees Celsius) in summer 2024 through Aug. 26, the most current data available at the time this article was published.

KANSAS CITY

Known for scorching summers, Kansas City had both a cooler-than-average July and August.

Eight August days had high temperatures only in the 70s. Four of those August days had morning lows in the 50s, no doubt prompting some to reach for a light jacket, not top of mind in summer.

This generally cooler weather also kept the usual rash of summer severe thunderstorms and heavy rain relatively at bay.

But summer, once synonymous with leisure and reprieve, has increasingly become a season marked by anxiety and disruption. Fossil fuel pollution — alongside other compounding factors — has transformed these months into a time of mounting peril, punctuated by relentless heat waves, rampant wildfires and catastrophic flooding.

Last summer, in particular, was defined by a tragic surge in deadly flash floods across the United States, underscoring the escalating volatility of our warming world. (CNN, July 20, 2025: ATTACHMENT FIVE)

It’s no accident that that was the summer of flooding, climate scientists said, with 100-year to 1,000-year deluges happening nearly simultaneously in multiple states on multiple days.

Large parts of the US saw an unusually humid summer with record amounts of moisture in the air. When cold fronts and other weather systems come along, that moisture can get wrung out, squeezed like a water-laden sponge, yielding heavy and often highly localized downpours.

For much of last summer, the atmospheric conditions over the US funneled humid air north from the unusually warm Gulf and western Atlantic, including the Gulf Stream, UCLA climate researcher Daniel Swain told CNN. This yielded “unusually high levels of moisture at all levels of the atmosphere across the US east of the Rockies,” Swain said – and record levels of what meteorologists call precipitable water, “which is the amount of rain that would result from instantaneously extracting all the water in the air.”

This pattern led to one flash flood after another; first and foremost, the devastating Texas flood that killed more than 130 people at Camp Mystic on the night of July 4. Three people were killed in a flash flood related to torrential rains falling on a wildfire burn scar in Ruidoso, New Mexico (above) on July, major roads in Chicago were suddenly under water when a 1,000-year rainfall event struck in early July, and, in portions of North Carolina, “the remnants of Tropical Storm Chantal led to deadly heavy rain and flooding the same weekend as the Texas tragedy.”

New York City’s subway tunnels were flooded when the city saw its second-heaviest rainfall total in one hour on July 14, with widespread flash flooding lasting into the 15th. And then it was Kansas City’s turn to flood on July 17.

“Some of these floods resulted from rainfall that has a return frequency of about 1,000 years, meaning it has just a 0.1% chance of occurring in any given year,” according to CNN. “But climate change is loading the dice in favor of extreme precipitation.”

“When we talk about ‘1000 year’ events, we’re talking about the likelihood of these events in the absence of human-caused warming (i.e. how often we would expect them from natural variability alone),” said climate scientist Michael Mann of the University of Pennsylvania. These events are of course much more frequent, now, he e-mailed the media, “because of human-caused warming.”

But his research has identified other factors, such as persistent large-scale weather patterns known as “atmospheric resonance,” that can make extreme weather, including floods, even more likely. “Just as sound waves or ocean waves can resonate and reinforce each other, atmospheric resonance can happen to undulating jet stream patterns in the upper atmosphere, resulting in weather systems that stay in place for weeks.”

Mann now contends that such weather patterns have tripled in incidence since the mid-20th century during the summer months. The problem is these patterns are “not necessarily well-captured in climate models,” he said, which increases uncertainty about future projections for extreme weather trends.

The influence of climate change on heavy rainfall is most evident when it comes to short duration extreme events, like what has happened repeatedly this summer, according to Swain.

“It is not average precipitation that really is most affected by climate change,” Swain said. “It truly is mathematically correct that the more extreme the rain event, the clearer the connection to climate change is.”

The physics of how global warming affects heavy precipitation events is well known, according to climate scientist Kate Marvel.

“This is almost a textbook example of climate change impacts,” Ms. Marvel told CNN. “The science behind it is so basic you can see it in daily life. Warm water drives more evaporation — the bathroom gets much steamier after a hot bath than a cold one,” she said.

“Warm air contains more water vapor — a cold beer gets wet on the outside on a hot day, because when air comes into contact with the cooler surface, it has to condense out its water vapor,” Marvel said.

FORESHADOWING

An unprecedented number of flood emergencies ravaged the US in 2024; a warning of what came in 2025 and seems likely to come this summer. “Warm ground makes it easier for moist air to balloon upwards – this is why thunderstorms happen on hot summer afternoons. Put these all together, and you get the perfect conditions for torrential rain,” said Marvel, author of the new climate book “Human Nature.”

“Whether a downpour turns into a catastrophic flood depends on a lot of things: how porous the ground is, the topography of the area, the people and things in harm’s way. But there is absolutely no doubt that climate change, caused by human emissions of greenhouse gases, is making extreme rainfall more extreme.”

Summer this year, started in the early spring... lasting longer and packing more heat than it used to—“and it's happening faster than scientists had previously measured,” according to the climatologists way up at the normally temperate University of British Columbia, according to Phys.Org spokesman Erik Rolfsen (April 8, ATTACHMENT SIX)

UBC researchers contend that, between 1990 and 2023, the average summer between the tropics and the polar circles grew about six days longer per decade. That's up from roughly four days per decade found in past research investigations up until the early 2010s.

The heat was even worse in places like Sydney, Australia and Toronto, according to Rolfsen, and large swaths of Europe from London to Paris to Poland have been socked with triple digit temperatures this past week.

According to Rolfsen, the UBC study’s findings have implications for agriculture, water supply, public health and energy systems, many of which have been built around assumptions about when the warm season begins and ends.

"These findings challenge what we believe to be the normal cycle of the seasons," said lead author Ted Scott, a Ph.D. student in UBC's department of geography. "When summer happens and how quickly it arrives impact patterns and behaviors in plant and animal life, and human society."

The study also found that seasonal transitions—the shift from spring to summer and from summer to autumn—are becoming more abrupt. Instead of a gradual warm-up, summer-like temperatures arrive more suddenly. This could disrupt systems that depend on seasonal cues; for example, flowers may bloom before pollinators are active, crops may need to be planted earlier, and rapid spring warming may lead to faster snowmelt and greater spring flood risk.

"The changes may be very disruptive to a wide range of systems," Scott said. "An expectation in the Northern Hemisphere that June is when summer starts may be ingrained in planning and policy, meaning we could be ill-prepared for earlier heat."

Accumulated summer heat over Northern Hemisphere land from North America to Europe and even Japan is rising more than three times faster since 1990 than it did from 1961 to 1990.

The study found that coastal areas in the Northern Hemisphere are seeing some of the fastest growth in summer length and accumulated heat, which could affect millions of people who have moved to these areas in part because of their perceived moderate climate.

Also in April, Accuweather forecasters predicted that a ?volatile mix of heat, severe thunderstorms and flooding” was in store for the U.S.A. on its 250^th birthday as a result of a particularly strong El Niño “developing and flexing its influence on the weather pattern” (ATTACHMENT SEVEN) with almost no areas “expected to have temperatures below the historical average for the season. The widespread heat will drive up energy demand and could lead to higher electric bills,” Accuweather added.

The worst of the heat will focus across parts of California, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Washington and Wyoming, fueling a widespread fire threat already realized in Utah, where the @, @ and @ fires (as well as many others) are scorching the Great Basin.

And in the Northeast, there could be a "late surge of heat and higher humidity," according to AccuWeather Long-Range Expert Paul Pastelok. “The added humidity will boost AccuWeather RealFeel® Temperatures during the day and contribute to warmer nights and also, Pastelok said, tornadoes in June and July. The heat may inhibit the twister after August but destructive lines of thunderstorms known as derechos with winds exceeding 100 mph taking place, such as that which broke out across North Dakota last year – combining with a rare EF5 tornado.

Pastelok predicted more drought and wildfires in the west, with the storms and flooding from the Rockies east – except along the Gulf Coast which, fortunately or not, has been enduring powerful storms all week. Tropical monsoon moisture from the Pacific might afford some relief to Californa and its water supply for people, plants and animals, but when yhe storms come too fast and too furious to burned-over ground, landslides become likely.

Accuweather closed its grim forecast by raising the prospect of a rare "super El Niño" later in 2026 when it could have bigger impacts on the weather across the United States in the final months of 2026 and the start of 2027.

At least that might bring a plethora, or plague, of White Christmases deep into the South!

The Conversation (June 22, ATTACHMENT EIGHT) touched upon another factor... the world’s heatwaves becoming a global health emergency.

El Niño, they explained, is “a natural warming of part of the tropical Pacific that can shift weather patterns around the world. It is not the cause of climate change, but when it develops in a climate already warmed by greenhouse gas pollution, it can add another push to global temperatures and regional extremes.”

The science is clear the liberal Conversationalists contend. Greenhouse gases have raised the baseline, so heatwaves now begin from a warmer starting point. Record ocean heat adds more energy to the climate system. Dry ground can intensify heat, because less of the sun’s energy goes into evaporating water from soil and plants, and more goes into heating the air.

Already, there have been dozens of heat-related deaths in Europe... although a majority have been attributed not to heatstroke or aligned diseases, but to drownings as inexperienced or delirious Old Worlders are jumping into ponds, rivers and even reflecting pools to beat the heat.

Conversationalists point to record temperatures (a national May record 35.1 C or, in American, 95°F) in the U.K. the hottest spring in France melting into summer where the Louvre and Eiffel Tower have had to be closed – even India (where meteorologists extended an extended heatwave outlook) and China while, on the opposite poles, Australia, Tasmania, Victoria and New South Wales have just had one of their ten warmest autumns on record.

The death toll from heat is large, but often underestimated because heat may worsen existing illness rather than appear as the sole cause of death. A 2025 European analysis estimated 62,775 heat-related deaths in Europe in 2024 alone. The Lancet Countdown reports that heat-related deaths among older people have risen sharply, and that hundreds of thousands of people now die globally each year from heat.

High temperatures can cause dehydration, strain the heart, worsen kidney disease and aggravate respiratory illness. Heat can also affect mental health and increase distress. Older people, babies, people with chronic illness, outdoor workers and those living alone are among those at higher risk.

Heat also puts pressure on the systems people rely on. Hospitals fill faster. Care homes become harder to cool. Rail lines buckle. Roads soften. Rivers warm and water quality declines. Electricity demand rises as people use fans and air-conditioning, while low river flows can affect water quality and supply. A power cut can disrupt cooling, transport, water systems, shops, hospitals and communications.

Conversational corrective measures include the usual that doctors, teachers and mothers worldwide adhere to... hydration, restricting strenuous activity to morning or evening hours, take care of pets, elders and follow heat-health alerts, local weather warnings and public health advice.

Being the liberals as they are, the editors inserted asides about inequality. “People without trees, insulation, ventilation, secure work, clean water or affordable energy are less able to avoid exposure, cool their homes or recover after extreme heat”; communities and countries that have contributed least to climate change are often disproportionately affected, because they have fewer resources for adaptation, healthcare, infrastructure and disaster response.

Ellen Halliday in PROSPECTMAGAZINE.ORG U.K. (Today, ATTACHMENT NINE) took note of the extreme heat that struck the UK and much of Europe – causing England’s Met Office, to issue amber and then red weather warnings after the forecast highs.

A red extreme heat warning, for those who didn’t know (like, for example, the colonials) means that there’s a danger to life not just for vulnerable people but for all of us. This week’s was only the second ever issued by the Met Office—the first being in 2022. But the novelty of the label—the most serious warning that can be issued—doesn’t change the fact that heat records were again broken this week, and that days like those are more likely to come again in future.

Yet still—despite these warnings echoing across the years and spread across our screens and newspapers—many usually sensible people seemed to approach the heat with a kind of scepticism. “In the United States,” Halliday reports, “Donald Trump’s government is attempting to dismantle a network of more than 900 sensors that deliver critical information about the world’s oceans—just as a powerful El Niño takes hold. Fossil fuel interests are reportedly launching “coordinated attacks” on climate science at UN talks in Bonn. And in the UK, politicians are increasingly questioning established science.

These kinds of incidents may seem unimportant—but they are attacks on our understanding of reality. Of course, we wish that this June heatwave was normal, but it isn’t. And of course we wish that heat wasn’t dangerous, but it is. Weeks like this are going to become a far more regular feature of our lives. It’s human not to want that future to sink in, but we need the evidence—the data from those meteorologists and oceanographers, doctors and economists—to shake us out of our stupor. 

“Denial is a comfort, for a while,” Halliday contends and it (as also the immense profits going to a few persons of power and influence) is why that, as voters in democracies, “a significant number of us choose parties that would tear up our commitments to reduce emissions, would encourage the burning of more fossil fuels, and would try to turn renewable energy into a culture war. The idea that climate action was necessary used to have broad political consensus, even if parties disagreed on the urgency required, or the means of getting there. No longer.”

The Met Office released a fictional forecast for a June day in 2056 based on realistic projections of 2.5 degrees of global warming; “it was worryingly close to what we are already experiencing. And just as politicians are attacking the climate action that citizens still desire, so too is our knowledge and understanding about climate change under attack.

“And we must try to see and feel the world before us as it is. When we choose not to—in this case, not to feel the heat, or to acknowledge its dangers—we are not being brave. We’re seeking comfort in denial.”

The Conversation’s weather terminologies also included the contention that, in extreme cases, a “heat dome” can settle over regions large or small and, as the nights remain hot, “bodies, buildings and infrastructure get little chance to cool.”

USA Today (Yesterday, ATTACHMENT TEN) now believes that a huge heat dome is building over America, just in time for our 250^th birthday – “bringing widespread 90‑degree temperatures, potential 110‑degree heat indices, and unusually warm nights from the Plains to the East ahead of the Fourth of July, with limited thunderstorms inside the dome and safety tips for the public,” according to correspondent Doyle Rice.

"A multiday heat wave is brewing across the middle of the nation ahead of the Fourth of July weekend, expanding from the Plains to the Midwest and even nosing into the East," said AccuWeather meteorologist Alex Sosnowski (above) in an online forecast.

NOAA's Weather Prediction Center said hot weather will be the story this coming weekend from the Plains to the Ohio Valley, “with widespread above-average temperatures expected thanks to a strong upper-level ridge of high pressure (aka heat dome) developing.

“Highs in the 90s are expected as far north as the Great Lakes and Minnesota, and 100s for much of Texas. Heat indices approaching 110 degrees are possible from the mid-South to the central Gulf Coast where the combination of heat and high dew points will be greatest.

“Overnight lows will also be quite warm, with some record high minimums possible.”

Anylyses of heat dome dangers by Weather.com, climatecheck.com and charts and graphs from www.wpc/ncep.noaa.gov and www.weather.gov describe "oppressive" high-pressure atmospheric systems that cause warm air to be pushed to the Earth's surface and trapped there for long periods of time.

"The dome traps high-pressure air in one place, like the lid on a pot. These large zones of hot air result in a combination of blistering temperatures, devastating wildfires, and drought conditions."

A heat dome can stretch over several states and linger for days to weeks, “leaving the people, crops and animals below to suffer through stagnant, hot air that can feel like an oven," said William Gallus, professor of meteorology at Iowa State University, in another article in The Conversation while USA Today reprinted more charts and graphs from AccuWeather.

USA Today also included cooling tips similar to those above including staying in air-conditioned buildings or seeking medical help (if you can afford air-conditioning or doctors). And don’t leave pets or children in hot cars – “even with partially open windows.”

Overseas, Al Jazeera (also yesterday, ATTACHMENT ELEVEN) expressed sympathy to the Vikings, Vandals and other infiden Euros as they sweltered in MidEast – like heat with at least 101 million people expected to face temperatures exceeding 35 degrees Celsius (95 Fahrenheit), “including 50 million in France and 18 million in Germany, according to calculations by the AFP news agency.”

Yesterday’s maximum temperatures surpassed 30C (86F) for more than 380 million people across Europe, representing nearly two-thirds of the population, according to an analysis based on forecasts from the German weather service and 2025 population projections from the Joint Research Centre.

Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands will also be affected by the heatwave searing much of Western Europe since last weekend, as will people in Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Croatia.

The UK on Thursday recorded its hottest ever June temperature, with the mercury reaching 36.4C in the western English county Somerset, breaking the previous record of 36.1C set just under 24 hours earlier.

“The UK’s Met Office weather service said the record-breaking June temperature had been clocked in the village of Yeovilton, after Wednesday’s high was reached further east in Gosport, Hampshire.

“Switzerland also registered its hottest ever June temperature on Thursday, with 38C measured in the northern city of Basel, breaking a previous record of 36.9C set eight decades ago, the Swiss weather service said.”

In the Paris region, a three-year-old was found dead in a car, the third such death of a child this week.

In Spain, the heatwave could be linked to 212 deaths between Sunday and Wednesday, according to estimates from the MoMo monitoring system, which compiles daily death statistics in Spain.

Mainland Spain this week recorded its highest daily average temperatures in June since at least 1950, with Monday’s figure of 28.08C followed by 28.17C on Tuesday. The number of heat-related deaths in Spain between May 16 and September 30 last year hit 3,832, an 87.6-percent increase from the same period in 2024, according to MoMo data.

And the Euros... and the Brits, of course... have their own troubles with the heat – and their own ascription of the evils of sky and summer to humans, in this instance the gumment. Where Americans, true believers in Donald Trump and his MAGAnoids, can cast the blame on Old Goneaway Joe and his pilfering posse of propagenarians, their equivalents in the U.K. have disgraced and disposed-of PM Starmer, his potential Labourite replacement Andy Burnham, and specifically the green goof who he might appoint as chancellor. “Burnham world is said to be divided over whether it should be Ed Miliband, with some pushing him as a proven Whitehall operator and ideological ally of the next PM, while others fear he would spook the bond markets.

“But the loudest argument heard against the present energy secretary, pushed especially forcefully this week, is his advocacy of net zero: the pursuit of zero carbon emissions by 2050. At a rightwing conference in London dubbed the “anti-woke Davos”, Kemi Badenoch told delegates there was a “villain” to blame for Britain’s economic woes. “His name is Ed Miliband and he has made our country poorer,” she said to applause.

“The gathering had been convened by the Alliance for Responsible Citizenship, whose backers include the owner of GB News and a string of fossil fuel companies. Among the officials from the current US administration in attendance was Donald Trump’s energy secretary, Chris Wright, himself a former fossil fuel executive, who described Britain’s green policies as a “tragic mistake”. Wright expressed the hope that a change of leadership in the UK would see the country change course and get into line with the US.”

What GUK’s Jonathan Freedland found so amusing (ATTACHMENT TWELVE) was that the “thousands of anti-abortion activists, opponents of multiculturalism and climate sceptics who gathered at the conference venue in Olympia, west London, were sweltering inside, according to those who were there. As they applauded the likes of Wright, who believes the dangers of the climate crisis have been exaggerated, they were fanning themselves against a London temperature that remained stubbornly above 35C – using a fan handed out in goodie bags and emblazoned with the slogan, “Free speech never felt so cool”.

Yet, sadly, it is not only the self-styled anti-woke crowd who are making this mistake. Miliband’s critics include several trade unions, enraged by his opposition to new drilling for oil and gas in the North Sea and the jobs that would bring. Tony Blair’s essay last month made the same case for relaxing the push towards net zero. In Canada, Mark Carney has dismantled multiple green measures, and even the European commission in Brussels is easing the pressure. Given the desperate need for economic growth, Freedland says he understands why net zero can seem like an unaffordable luxury. But look up: it’s a life-saving essential.

What the film got right is that impending planetary catastrophe can induce a response less egregious but scarcely less dangerous than outright denial – and that is distraction and displacement.

In the US, “the subject of the hour is Donald Trump’s apparent mission to Make Metaphor Literal Again, specifically the saga of his botched repairs to the reflecting pool that stands at the foot of the Lincoln memorial. The same US president who promised to “drain the swamp” in Washington DC has created an actual stinking, lurid-green swamp in the centre of the city.” In the UK, GUK cited the BBC’s Newsnight panellists on Thursday as they discussed the announcement that King Charles and the queen will no longer live at Buckingham Palace.

Concluding that our global addiction to fossil fuel is not only boiling the planet, but, GUK says, “we can talk about other things, we can look away, we can refuse to look up, but – like the heat bearing down on so many of us at this very moment – we cannot escape it.”

On the other hand, KOIN.com of Portland, Oregon ventured that a rare sight of summer snow is possible for some as cooler and wet weather returns to the Pacific Northwest later this week and weekend.

“Extreme heat has been sitting over much of western Oregon and southwest Washington during the early days of the summer season,” KOIN reported (June 24^th, ATTACHMENT THIRTEEN). Now, parts of Oregon are preparing for lower snow elevations to return.

“Snow levels are expected to fall to nearly 5,500′ by the weekend. Recent warm weather means that any snow that may fall isn’t expected to stick. However, some of the highest elevations of Oregon’s Three Sisters or Mt. Hood could see a few flakes to nearly 1.5 to 2 inches.”

Any moisture and cooler temperature trends that make their way back into the Pacific Northwest are a welcome sight – not to mention sensation. “The cooler and wetter weather that moves through western Oregon and southwest Washington during the summer months” is expected to help to slow the regional wildfire threat for some amount of time.

Finally, the A.P. surveyed 2026’s songs of the summer... and while there is no contemporary equivalent to Sly’s “Hot Fun” or the Spoonful’s “Summer in the City” for the grampies and grannies, A.P.’s Maria Sherman compared the 2026 outcroppings unfavorably to “songs like “Despacito” in 2017 or “Old Town Road” in 2019” let alone the moldy oldies from the past century but then declared (and less than a week into the season) that Ella Langley’s “Choosin’ Texas” would be the song of Summer 2026. (ATTACHMENT FOURTEEN)

Of course, there are still three more months to go, during which something else might arise and swipe the crown.

Three more months...

Too hot to dance, our Indices too old to stand alone, we move on to reconfigure them after thirteen years... setting the stakes back to what they were on our first Index (or in a few cases where categories were dropped, added or replaced), somewhat later.

Read our updated INDEX baselines on July 1^st, or maybe earlier.

	IN the NEWS: JUNE 19th, 2026 to JUNE 25th, 2026
Friday, June 19, 2026 Dow: Closed for Juneteenth	It’s Juneteenth, and 99 year old founder Opal Lee calls out right wing legislatures who are cancelling the 1964 Voting Rights act. It’s also the thirteenth anniversary of the Don Jones Index and we’re going to reconfigure our indices. As we do, President Trump’s Fourteen Point Memorandum of Understanding (MOUse) squeaks and squeals as the cats of Iran toss aside the cease fire, insisting that the Israeli war on Lebanon has to be made part of any deal – which not only the Dumoctats but plenty of warhawk MAGAnoids are calling a rotten TACO. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tx) says the $300B we are giving the mad mullahs in “reparations” atop the unfreezing of Iranian assets and elimination of oil sanctions will pour money into the regime that will not be used to help the people, but to kill Americans. Veep Vance, meanwhile, is dispatched to Switzerland to lead the negotiating team of Steve Wikoff and son-in-law Jared while the President floats conspiracy theories about Vandals atop the slimy green algae of his formerly beautiful and expensive Reflecting Pool and snarls at the courts who are chopping up his anti-Weaponization payoffs to the Capitol rioters. Israeli PM Bibi Netanyahu also derides the deal, continues bombing Lebanese civilians in an increasingly futile search for terrorists that is raising anti-Semitic sentiment left and right. Ukraina, meanwhile, launches over a thousand drone against Moscow’s office refineries, the Kremlin retaliates by destroying a thousand year old monastery. “If Kyev burns, Russia will also burn,” says President Zelenskyy. Celebrities, Democrats and even a few Republicans like former President George H. W. Bush attend the opening of former President Obama’s Chicago library. Trump doesn’t attend but Bruce Springsteen and Stevie Wonder do. More joy in Gotham as Knicks fans celebrate their NBA championship – the first in 53 years. Armies of police patrol the lower Manhattan parade route but, further north in Times Square, a terrorist shoots celebrants. Motive unknown, a Wemby fan... or maybe Lakers, like the police in L.A. who smash into the home of a cheering fan and shoot her dog. MAGAfanboys, at least, have the President’s brand new Air Force One gift from Qatar that will stay with the President, personally, despite cries of corruption.
Saturday, June 20, 2026 Dow: Closed	As the 60 day MOU continues crumbling, Vance cancels his trip to Switzerland, leaving Steve and Jared alone with the Iranians, but at least enjoying the accommodations and cuisine and plenty of air conditioning to combat the EU heat wave that is causing the French to ban alcohol consumption as unhealthy. In America, as the Knicks’ celebrations wind down and the party for the NHL Hurricanes begin in Raleigh as the first real hurricane of ’26, Arthur, drowns the south and the reflecting pool cleaners in DC. FIFA continues as Argentine hero Lionel Messi scores a hat trick in KC, just a few steps from a mass shooter. The heat from tomorrow’s summer solstices causing the flooding from Texas to the coast where “sneaker waves” are drowning beachgoers on both coasts and the “monster” wves cover a Hawaiian condo complex. Away from the storms, Miami reaches 109° while fires rage in the Dominican Republic, killing a tourist at a luxury report and destroying a historic Brooklyn church.
Sunday, June 21, 2026 Dow: Closed	Sunday is Father’s Day, and summer solstice. On the talkshows, EnSec Chris Wright denies MOUsetrap, saying Hormuz was always bad but there are three ways out and American-protected tankers using one of them, lower prices of oil (but gas gouging continues). Pressure from America will force Iranians to beg for mercy or, if not, face more war. Djonald UnDepressed drags up memories of Herbert Hoover and predicts a new Great Depression. Former Obama SecSec Susan R@ calls the deal “a jaw dropping surrender” with nothing about nukes or Iran’s plan to charge Hormuz tolls. She agrees that Iran will just use its money to continue the Death to America jihad through the usual proxies while the USA will have to close all its bases in the other countries of the Gulf. ABC’s Jonathan Karl asks the Round Table if a weak deal is better than a stupid one. After National Review RINOs join in disgust, RINO Chris Christie calls Vance naïve and inexperienced. Former DNC Chair Donna Brazile says nothing in the MOU protests terrorist proxies while former Bernie Man Faiz Shakur says things will play out in the Midterms as Bernie, Zorro and AOC are trying to make the donkeys grow a backbone. Former Trump chump Sara Isgur says the real issue is the President’s contempt of Congress. Christie says that the progressives have an easy job and never deliver while Isgur compares their failings to the Republicans in 2012. Hillary Clinton tells America that Old Goneaway Joe shouldn’t have announced in 2024. Now, she does. On “Face the Nation” Sen. Lindsay Graham (R-NC) says he’d rather have a deal but Trump will take Hormuz by force, if not, but DefSec/WarSec Hegseth says that the EU and NATO are the real enemies. Sen. Jason Crow (D-Co) wants stronger regulations on FISA and says Clayton was better than novice Pultz, US oilymen say gas might drop five cents, but return to normal not in the cards until 2028. Trump threatens to send troops into DC if liberal Janeese George Lewis wins, inciting civil war. She does – will he invade or TACO?
Monday, June 22, 2026 Dow: 51,671.07	Peace talks “under pressure” as Vance returns to the table with the Swiss, Pakistanis and Qtar now brokering. In Washington, President Trump threatens to ditch the talks and resume bombing a CBS polls show Americans think that Iran is winning the war. The President now says that the reflecting pool was attacked by “vandals” who poured fertilizer in to turn it green and slashed the paint off the bottom as six arrested, onr saying he was just looking at it. Originally budgeteted for a million, it’s now costing 1600% more and Dems say America needs a President, not a pool boy. Low as his popularity is, Djonald UnAppreciated is better off the U.K. Premier Keith Starmer who finally admits to reality and resigns; his successor is likely to be Andy Burnhamr. Over the weekend, America wins its second FIFA match to advance to the second “knockout” round, then loses to Turkey. Lionel Messi sets record for goals, scoring both in Argentine 2-0 victory while Cristiano Rinaldo keeps pace with record goals of his own. Underdog Cape Verde ties again. L.A. wins the WNBA title, Oklahoma men take the NCAA and Serena Wilians announces her return to singles competition in Wimbledon while Toy Story Five cleans up at the box office. Two iconic old men die over the weekend... 94 year old record executive Clive Davis and 100 year old former Fed Chair Alan Greenspan.
Tuesday, June 23, 2026 Dow: 50,872.11	Vance goes home claiming victory despite Iranian rejection of nuclear inspections and linking Israeli strikes on Lebanon. With polls now running 69-31% against the war, four Pubs join donkeys in symbolic resolution to leave the matter up to Congress. US denies payouts and allowing Iranian oil sales will finance terror because there is a mandate to buy American agricultural products instead of Russian and Chinese weapons. Also passing is a bipartisan houring affordability act limiting Wall Street speculators from buying up homes plus funding for construction and conversion. Money is saved, peraps, by new Intelligence Direcor Bill Pulte who is firing hundreds of anti-terror agents as money is diverted to Iran/ Ordinary apolitical crime, spikes – authorities release old ransom note saying Nancy Guthrie is dead. Columbine fanboy kills two at Chico, CA public library, 7 killed in Chicago drive-by, KC killing near FIFA venue may or may not be related. Police investigating runaway Tesla self-driving car that smashes into house, kills elderly woman. Olympic skier Bode Miller arrested for possession of ‘shrooms.
Wednesday, June 24, 2026 Dow: 51,848.90	NBA draft begins, first to go is BYU’s A. J. Dybantsa - one of eight freshmen going in the first round. Genetics also plays a part; the third pick is Duke’s Cameron Boozer, going to the Memphis... his father was Lakers’ Carlos Boozer. FIFA fever overtakes both American host cities and foreign people as the media can’t shut up about how enthusiastic the foreigners are about American foods – particulary ranch dressing (?!?). Insane Euros are trying to smuggle bottles of the stuff through TSA checkpoints and chugging it like beer. But there is also reality, or some simulation thereof in the MidEast where President Trump assures America that we have already won the war and also won the peace because Iran will accept inspections of the nuclear facilities that he earlier said they wouldn’t be allowed to have. Iran denies this and says they’re nukin’ on – Trump insists they’re lying. Back in America, extreme leftists backed by NYC Mayor Zorro win three key elections, prompting a shouting match between Trump and Republicans (whom he calls “losers”) worried about the midterms. After four Pubs desert and vote with Dems to pass a symbolic resolution against the war. Enraged, Trump refuses to sign the bipartisan housing bill passed 95-5 unless Democrats kneel and support his gutting of the Voting Rights Act. Disgusted, ultra MAGGoids MTG and Tucker Carlson say they are quitting the Republican Party.
Thursday, June 25, 2026 Dow: 51,564.70	Even as Trump is insisting that “Iran is being very nice,” they attack oil tankers in the Straits of Hormuz which causes SecState Marco to call it a violation of the Deal. Ooooh!!! Terrfied by the Rage of Trump, Senators Bill Cassidy and Rand Paul bend their knees and change their votes on the war powers act. The President insists he will punish the traiters by refusing to sign the housing affordability bill so up go rents. And even tho’ oil by the barrel is cheaper, gas prices at the pump go up as the Gas Buddies escalate their gouging. SCOTUS hands him a couple of wins on immigration, purging “more than a million” migrants... most of whom are either sick or facing death in their home countries. Congress grills HomSec Mullen over deaths of migrants, including children as the Supremes prepare to rule on birthright citizenship – which could result in millions more deportations and ensuring a summer of riots. After a mild 5.6 earthquake in California, a huge 7.5 tremor strikes Venezuela. Less than 200 are reported killed but thousands are missing, and the final toll may rise to between ten and twenty five thousand/ Because Trump put his own woman into the Presidency, America will send relief and children are already being pulled out of the rubble.
Atop the Year Thirteen reconfiguration, Don and the Jones family enjoyed a stupendous leap in aggregate American wages... whether this occurred all across the board of was the result of a few billionaires, like Elon, becoming trillionaires – thus dragging up the working Americans still struggling to pay for rent, gas and food. Debt Clock was silent on this anomaly... they typically use algorithms on a week to week or month to month bases, corrected with occasional boots-on-the-ground R&D. Another thing: Dow records have tended to soar in the mornings before noon and then slump in the afternoons. Is it the economy – or the heat?

THE DON JONES INDEX

CHART of CATEGORIES w/VALUE ADDED to EQUAL BASELINE of 15,000

(REFLECTING… approximately… DOW JONES INDEX of June 27, 2013)

Gains in indices as improved are noted in GREEN. Negative/harmful indices in RED as are their designation. (Note – some of the indices where the total went up created a realm where their value went down... and vice versa.) See a further explanation of categories HERE

ECONOMIC INDICES		(60%)
CATEGORY	VALUE	BASE	RESULTS by PERCENTAGE				SCORE		OUR SOURCES and COMMENTS
INCOME	(24%)	6/17/13 revised 1/1/22	LAST	CHANGE		NEXT	LAST WEEK	THIS WEEK	THE WEEK’S CLOSING STATS... @check!
Wages (hrly. Per cap)	9% 8	1350 points	6/19/26	+0.32%		7/26	1,904.26	1,904.26	https://tradingeconomics.com/united-states/average-hourly-earnings 37.41 37.53
Median Inc. (yearly) The US Debt Clock does not feature an active "error" regarding median income. Instead, the discrepancy you might notice stems from how it calculates this metric compared to standard government reporting. [1, 2]	4%	600	6/19/26	+30.08%		7/3/26	1,132.97	1,472.81	http://www.usdebtclock.org/   52,147 173 201 @67,905 What is the median income in the U.S. right now? AI Overview In 2024, the median U.S. household income was $83,730. For individuals, the median annual earnings for all workers (including the billionaire investor and owner classes) was $45,140, but it was $63,360 for those working full-time, year-round... such as Debt Clock defines “work”. The national average (mean) personal income for all workers was $67,080.  Census.gov +4 Household vs. Individual Income Breakdown · Median Household Income: $83,730 · Median Personal Income (All Workers): $45,140 · Median Personal Income (Full-Time, Year-Round): $63,360 · Average Personal Income (All Workers): $67,080  Census.gov +3 Key Details to Consider · The "Average vs. Median" Difference:  The average income is pulled higher by top earners, making the median (the midpoint where half make more and half make less) a more accurate representation of what typical Americans make. SoFi · Worker Status: The widely cited median income figure for all workers includes part-time employees, students, and retirees, which skews it much lower than the median for full-time workers.  · Demographic Factors: Income varies greatly based on education, industry, and location. For instance, median earnings differ across race and ethnicity, with Asian and white households typically reporting incomes higher than the national median
Unempl. (BLS – in mi)	4%	600	6/19/26	-2.33%		7/26	542.60	542.60	http://data.bls.gov/timeseries/LNS14000000/  4.3 nc
Official (DC – in mi)	2%	300	6/19/26	-1.19%		7/3/26	214.24	216.79	http://www.usdebtclock.org/    7,395 399 403 316
Unofficl. (DC – in mi)	2%	300	6/19/26	-0.007%		7/3/26	260.12	260.14	http://www.usdebtclock.org/    13,150 160 173 172
Workforce Participation Number Percent	2%	300	6/19/26	-0.013% +0.148%		7/3/26	295.39	295.83	http://www.usdebtclock.org/    In 162,495 473 448 756 2,735 Out 105,240 289 342 5.134 Total: 267,735 762 790 869 60.69 68 66 75
WP % (ycharts)*	1%	150	6/19/26	-0.162%		7/26	149.98	149.98	https://ycharts.com/indicators/labor_force_participation_rate 61.80 nc
OUTGO	(15%)
Total Inflation	7%	1050	6/19/26	+0.5%		7/26	901.77	901.77	http://www.bls.gov/news.release/cpi.nr0.htm     +0.6 .5
Food	2%	300	6/19/26	+0.2%		7/26	257.37	257.37	http://www.bls.gov/news.release/cpi.nr0.htm     +0.5 .2
Gasoline	2%	300	6/19/26	+7.0%		7/26	181.96	181.96	http://www.bls.gov/news.release/cpi.nr0.htm    +5.4 7.0
Medical Costs	2%	300	6/19/26	+0.5%		7/26	267.14	267.14	http://www.bls.gov/news.release/cpi.nr0.htm     +0.6 .5
Shelter	2%	300	6/19/26	+0.3%		7/26	238.38	238.38	http://www.bls.gov/news.release/cpi.nr0.htm     +0.0 .3
WEALTH	(6%)
Dow Jones Index	2% 3	300	6/19/26	+1.41%		7/3/26	396.87	400.43	https://www.wsj.com/market-data/quotes/index/ 51,562.25 50,848.76 1564.70 920.62
Home (Sales) (Valuation)	1% 1%	150 150	6/19/26	+3.73% +2.78%		7/3/26	137.08 287.30	137.08 287.30	https://www.nar.realtor/research-and-statistics Sales (M):  4.02 .17 Valuations (K):  417.7 429.3
Millionaires (New Category)	1%	150	6/19/26	+0.066%		7/3/26	137.49	137.58	http://www.usdebtclock.org/    24,261 273 287 303
Paupers (New Category)	1%	150	6/19/26	+0.035%		7/3/26	134.82	134.77	http://www.usdebtclock.org/    36,910 920 932 945
GOVERNMENT	(10%)
Revenue (trilns.)	2%	300	6/19/26	+1.29%		7/3/26	478.11	484.29	http://www.usdebtclock.org/    5,480 487 493 564
Expenditures (tr.)	2%	300	6/19/26	+1.10%		7/3/26	290.74	287.56	http://www.usdebtclock.org/    7,136 139 142 221
National Debt tr.)	3%	450	6/19/26	+0.17%		7/3/26	345.83	345.28	http://www.usdebtclock.org/    39,213 239 268 331
Aggregate Debt (tr.)	3%	450	6/19/26	+3.625%		7/3/26	367.45	354.13	http://www.usdebtclock.org/    108,164 251 347 112,422
TRADE	(5%)
Foreign Debt (tr.)	2%	300	6/19/26	+0.86%		7/3/26	251.48	253.65	http://www.usdebtclock.org/    9,551 9,564 574 492
Exports (in billions)	1%	150	6/19/26	+1.93%		7/26	203.57	203.57	https://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/current/index.html 320.9 327.1
Imports (in billions))	1%	150	6/19/26	-0.47%		7/26	134.69	134.69	https://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/current/index.html 381.2 383.0
Trade Surplus/Deficit (blns.)	1%	150	6/19/26	+7.87%		7/26	253.48	253.48	https://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/current/index.html 60.3 55.9
ACTS of MAN	(12%)
World Affairs	3%	450	6/19/26	-0.3%		7/3/26	469.61	468.20	American charity cuts to Africa result in millions of potential Ebola death while conspirators blame UFOs. Euroheat (inc. all time 112° in France) and floods lead to over forty drownings due to people going In (the) Seine and closure of the Eiffel Tower. 7.5 EQ rattles Venezuela, tourists flee erupting Guatamalan volcano; Trump-backed candidate wins Preidency of Colombia. Bad dad in England throws 3 year old to crocodiles.
War and terrorism	2%	300	6/19/26	-0.2%		7/3/26	282.31	281.75	Senate votes 50-48 with four Pubs in symbolic Iran peace vote before threats of Presidential veto cause two to RACO. Vancely karma chameleon comes and goes from Swiss war talks the President says are going swimmingly while Iran’s “Death to America” regime bombs more Hormuz tankers.
Politics	3%	450	6/19/26	-0.1%		7/3/26	452.40	451.95	“Democratic Socialists” in New York and Washington ride Zorro Mandabi’s beard fuzz to victory, delighting the left and enranging Donnie. Some red state legislatures are replacing property taxes on billionaire mansions with food taxes for struggling families. Four months til midterms.
Economics	3%	450	6/19/26	-0.2%		7/3/26	427.49	426.64	Amazon Prime days begin this week. Worst summer job outlook in decade as teens face competition from laid off adults and robots. As Americans eat more berries, prices rise 273% since 2020. New sobriety means hard times for bourbon makers.
Crime	1% 2	150	6/19/26	+0.2%		7/3/26	202.34	201.94	Teen door kick and water and BB gun pranksters risk death by victims and police. Gunslingers kill Dolllar General store manager in Columbus, GA and shoot K-9 “Havoc”, kill 2 more in Chico, CA library, bow and arrow shooter arrested in Florida.
ACTS of GOD	(6%)
Environment/Weather	3%	450	6/19/26	-0.3%		7/3/26	278.33	277.49	Summer’s cumin’ in with 129° heat index on the border; Iron, Bonneville and Cottonwood wildfires in Utah. Authorities warn Americans that water bottles in hot car release deadly toxins, Californs shouldn’t sleep on beachee due to “sneaker waves” as over a foot of rain in Oklahoma and Louisiana and tornadoes from the Great Lakes down to Alabama and Effing Illinois twister destroys a classic car museum.
Disasters	3%	450	6/19/26	-0.1%		7/3/26	463.55	463.09	Small, evil jellyfish attacking Jersey children. Stinky seaweed invades Florida beaches but some are eating it. Airscares include Boston Logan near miss, engine fire in Dallas, seven die in French crash, smaller plane crashes in Maryland and Kenrucky while close calls and “cunjunctions” blamed on ATF cuts. Cnnibal passenger chomps on seatmates on way to Philadelphia. Rescues include sixteen children from busted carnival ride on Long Island, Venezuelan EQ victims while deadly Camp Mystic files for bankruptcy.
LIFESTYLE/JUSTICE INDEX		(15%)
Science, Tech, Education	4%	600	6/19/26	-0.1%		7/3/26	618.59	617.97	Google and Space X stocks drop as AI experts desert/. New restrictions on Roblox gamers under eight.
Equality (econ/social)	4%	600	6/19/26	-0.1%		7/3/26	672.37	671.70	Southern Baptists double down on prohibition of female pastors. Bill Gates claims Epstein blackmailed him into sinning. Program in NY lets jailed dads visit kids.
Health	4%	600	6/19/26	-0.2%		7/3/26	413.41	412.58	RFK Jr.’s anti-vaxxing leads to flu epidemic at San Antonio military base. TV docs say summer sunlight wakes up elderly Alzheimers vics but the summer heat wilts them. Grammy winner Muni Long has double lung transplant. LA solar panel warehouse fire pollutes air. Anti-vaxxers wage war on “toxic” sunscreen but even sane people tell stupid Americans not to eat it. Texla stock drops after runaway car lawsuits, dropping Elon’s wealth below a tril. TV docs tout “microwalks” and apple cider jello.
Freedom and Justice	3%	450	6/19/26		-0.2%	7/3/26	479.20	478.24	The mind of Carlos Mencia forgets to pay $8M tax bill. DeFlockers fight Flock surveillance cameras haunting Americans and say “nobody watches the watchers.” SCOTUS to rule on forced head shaving for prisoners. Anti-Ice Texas terrorists get fifty years.
CULTURAL and MISCELLANEOUS INCIDENTS			(6%)
Cultural incidents	3%	450	6/19/26	+0.1%		7/3/26	594.66	595.25	Toy Story Five rakes in record $150M domestic BO with more sequels and sidewinders to come. Noah Wyle (ER, 911) named hottest Gen X actor. Olivia Rodrigo promotes women’s Daisy Chain Fest as successor to Lilith and hints duet with Stevie Nicks (maybe trio with back to work Dolly?) while Rod Stewart and Lionel Richie get sick onstage and summer of sequels and remakes lurks. Sports: NBA holds its first two rounds of drafts (see ESPN) while L.A. wins WNBA title, Oklahoma men take college world series and Serena will return to Wimbledon. Lionel Messi sets record for total goals while competitor Rinaldo scores in sixth consecutive World Cup. America sweeps, and even tiny Cape Verde on brink of knockout round advance. RIP: Iconic music man Clive Davis, ex-Fed Chair Alan Greenspan, TV director James Burrows (“Cheers”), “All My Chilcren” actor Paul Avery, Blood, Sweat, Tears singer David Clayton Thomas, gamer Tay Keith,
Miscellaneous incidents	4% 3	450/600	6/19/26	nc		7/3/26	553.95	553.95	Consumer Reports reports Sam’s Club best rotisserie chicken. 80 live cats and more dead ones confiscated from hoarder in Oregon. Bank employee empties Knicks trashcan, gets fined, fired and merchers start to sell replicas. Scots “Tartan Army” soccer fans drink Boston dry but then lose to Brazil. Gracie the giraffe escaptes from San Antonio ranch.

The Don Jones Index for the week of June 19^th through June 25^th, 2026 was UP 336.72 points

The Don Jones Index is sponsored by the Coalition for a New Consensus: retired Congressman and Independent Presidential candidate Jack “Catfish” Parnell, Chairman; Brian Doohan, Administrator. The CNC denies, emphatically, allegations that the organization, as well as any of its officers (including former Congressman Parnell, environmentalist/America-Firster Austin Tillerman and cosmetics CEO Rayna Finch) and references to Parnell’s works, “Entropy and Renaissance” and “The Coming Kill-Off” are fictitious or, at best, mere pawns in the web-serial “Black Helicopters” – and promise swift, effective legal action againth parties promulgating this and/or other such slanders.

Comments, complaints, donations (especially SUPERPAC donations) always welcome at feedme@generisis.com or: speak@donjonesindex.com.

ATTACHMENT ONE – FROM THE OLD FARMER’S ALMANAC

By Catherine Boeckmann Executive Digital Editor and Master Gardener June 10, 2026

Summer Days are here! Summer begins with the solstice on Sunday, June 21, 2026, marking the astronomical first day of summer in the Northern Hemisphere. What exactly IS the summer solstice? Is it really the longest day of the year? Welcome the solstice with some interesting facts and folklore.

THE JUNE SOLSTICE

In the Northern Hemisphere, the June solstice (aka summer solstice) occurs when the Sun travels along its northernmost path in the sky. This marks the astronomical start of summer in the northern half of the globe. (In the Southern Hemisphere, it’s the opposite: the June solstice marks the astronomical start of winter when the Sun is at its lowest point in the sky.)

WHEN IS THE SUMMER SOLSTICE?

The June solstice occurs on Sunday, June 21, at 4:24 A.M. EDT. Curious what time 4:24 A.M. EDT is where you live? Try our Time Zone Converter.

This solstice marks the official beginning of summer in the Northern Hemisphere, occurring when Earth arrives at the point in its orbit where the North Pole is at its maximum tilt (about 23.5 degrees) toward the Sun, resulting in the longest day and shortest night of the calendar year. (By longest “day,” we mean the longest period of sunlight hours.) On the day of the June solstice, the Northern Hemisphere receives sunlight at the most direct angle of the year. 

In the Southern Hemisphere, the June solstice marks the beginning of winter. 

Summer Solstice Dates and Times (Future)
Year	Summer Solstice (Northern Hemisphere)	Summer Solstice (Southern Hemisphere)
2026	Sunday, June 21, at 4:24 A.M. EDT	Monday, December 21
2027	Monday, June 21, at 10:11 A.M. EDT	Tuesday, December 21
2028	Tuesday, June 20, at 4:01 P.M. EDT	Thursday, December 21
2029	Wednesday, June 20, at 9:47 P.M. EDT	Friday, December 21

Tip: Want to know how many days are left until the longest day of the year? Use our simple day calculator.

WHAT IS THE SUMMER SOLSTICE?

In the Northern Hemisphere, the June solstice (aka summer solstice) occurs when the Sun reaches its highest and northernmost points in the sky. It marks the start of summer in the northern half of the globe. (In contrast, the June solstice in the Southern Hemisphere is when the Sun is at its lowest point in the sky, marking the start of winter.)

Solstice comes from the Latin words sol (sun) and sistere (to stand still). Due to Earth’s tilted axis, the Sun doesn’t rise and set at the same locations on the horizon each morning and evening; its rise and set positions move northward or southward in the sky as Earth travels around the Sun through the year. Also, the Sun’s track in the sky becomes higher or lower throughout the year. The June solstice is significant because the Sun reaches its northernmost point in the sky at this time, at which point the Sun’s path does not change for a brief period of time.

After the solstice, the Sun appears to reverse course and head back in the opposite direction. The motion referred to here is the apparent path of the Sun when one views its position in the sky at the same time each day, for example, at local noon. Over the year, its path forms a sort of flattened figure eight, called an analemma. Of course, the Sun itself is not moving (unless you consider its orbit around the Milky Way galaxy); instead, this change in position in the sky that we on Earth notice is caused by the tilt of Earth’s axis as it orbits the Sun, as well as Earth’s elliptical, rather than circular, orbit.

Note: This image does not represent the true shape of Earth’s orbit, which is an almost circular ellipse, or the exact location of the Sun, which would be slightly off-center. It is meant solely as a tool to demonstrate how sunlight falls on Earth at the four seasonal points in its orbit. Credit: NASA. 

Does the Solstice Always Occur on the Same Day?

The timing of the June solstice is not based on a specific calendar date or time; it all depends on when the Sun reaches its northernmost point from the celestial equator. Therefore, the solstice won’t always occur on the same day. Currently, it shifts between June 20, 21, and 22.

THE YEAR’S LONGEST DAY

The Summer Solstice is the day with the longest period of sunlight. Notice how the Sun appears highest in the sky at the solstice; its rays strike Earth at a more direct angle, causing the efficient warming we call summer.

For those locations at the Tropic of Cancer and northward, the Sun is highest in the sky on the June solstice, and you’ll notice that your shadow (at local, or solar, noon, not clock-time noon) is the shortest that it will be all year (in fact, at the Tropic of Cancer, there will be no shadow). [Local noon is when the Sun crosses the local meridian (an imaginary line between the North and South poles) and is highest in the sky for the day.]

For those who live in the Southern Hemisphere, the June solstice is the shortest day of the year and marks the arrival of winter.

See 7 fun facts about the June solstice!

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Is the Summer Solstice the First Day of Summer?

Yes and no… Technically, it depends on whether we’re speaking about the meteorological or astronomical start of the season. Most meteorologists divide the year into four seasons based on the months and the temperature cycle; this allows climate data to be compared and organized more easily. In this system, summer begins on June 1 and ends on August 31. Therefore, the summer solstice is not considered to be the first day of summer, meteorologically speaking.

Astronomically, however, the first day of summer is said to be when the Sun reaches its highest point in the sky, which occurs on the summer solstice (June 20–22). Therefore, the summer solstice is considered to be the first day of summer, astronomically speaking. 

As an almanac, which is defined as a “calendar of the heavens,” we prefer to follow the astronomical interpretation of the seasons and consider the first day of summer to coincide with the summer solstice. That being said, you may choose to follow whichever system you like best!

There is also a common debate regarding how the exact timing of the solstice affects the first day of the season. For example, if the solstice occurs at 11:30 P.M. on a Saturday, should we consider that Saturday to be the first day of summer, or should we instead consider the following day (Sunday) to be the first day? It tends to differ by whichever source you follow.

Is the Summer Solstice the Longest Day of the Year?

Yes! As spring ends and summer begins, the daily periods of sunlight lengthen to their longest on the solstice, then begin to shorten again.

On the solstice, the Sun is at its highest point in the sky, and it takes longer for it to rise and set. (Note: When the Sun appears highest in the sky near the summer solstice, the Full Moon opposite the Sun generally appears lowest in the sky!)

On the winter solstice, just the opposite occurs: The Sun is at its lowest in the sky. At this time, the Sun’s rays hit part of Earth at an oblique angle, creating feeble winter sunlight.

Use our handy sunrise and sunset calculator to figure out how many hours of sunlight you’ll get in your location on the solstice!

WHY DOESN’T THE SUMMER SOLSTICE FALL ON THE SAME DATE EACH YEAR?

The summer solstice in the Northern Hemisphere ranges in date from June 20 to 22. This occurs in part because of the difference between the Gregorian calendar system, which normally has 365 days, and the tropical year (how long it takes Earth to orbit the Sun once), which has about 365.242199 days. To compensate for the missing fraction of days, the Gregorian calendar adds a leap day about every 4 years, which makes the date for summer jump backward. However, the date also changes because of other influences, such as the gravitational pull from the Moon and planets, as well as the slight wobble in Earth’s rotation.

WHY ISN’T THE SUMMER SOLSTICE—THE LONGEST DAY OF THE YEAR—ALSO THE HOTTEST DAY OF THE YEAR?

Earth’s atmosphere, land, and oceans absorb part of the incoming energy from the Sun and store it, releasing it back as heat at various rates. Water is slower to heat (or cool) than air or land. At the summer solstice, the Northern Hemisphere receives the most energy (highest intensity) from the Sun due to the angle of sunlight and day length. However, the land and oceans are still relatively cool due to spring temperatures, so the maximum heating effect on air temperature is not felt just yet. Eventually, the land—and especially the oceans—will release stored heat from the summer solstice back into the atmosphere. This usually results in the year’s hottest temperatures appearing in late July, August, or later, depending on latitude and other factors. This effect is called seasonal temperature lag.

WHAT IS MIDSUMMER DAY (JUNE 24)?

Historically, Midsummer Day marked the midpoint of the growing season, halfway between planting and harvest. It is traditionally known as one of four “quarter days” in some cultures—folks celebrate by feasting, dancing, singing, and preparing for the hot summer days ahead. Read more about the ancient Quarter Days!

CELEBRATING THE SOLSTICE

Go strawberry picking. Enjoy a big bowl of strawberries and cream on the solstice.

There are many people—like the Swedes—who celebrate the beginning of summer by eating the first strawberries of the season. Indulging in some strawberries and cream is the perfect way to celebrate the June solstice since June’s Full Moon is also known as the Strawberry Moon. It typically coincided with the ripening of strawberries in what is now the northeastern and midwestern United States. In fact, in many states, this is the perfect time to go strawberry picking! Look up pick-your-own-strawberry farms in your area!

HAVE A SOLSTICE EVENING BONFIRE!

Many northern people also celebrate a solstice holiday known as Midsummer’s Day on June 24, which is one of the four ancient quarter days of the year. The eve prior is called Midsummer’s Eve, marking the shortest night of the year. A common way to celebrate is to have a bonfire party! After all, these northern people have emerged from some long, dark winters! In the Austrian state of Tyrol, torches and bonfires are lit up on mountainsides, which is a stunningly beautiful sight.

According to ancient Latvian legend, Midsummer’s Eve (St. John’s Eve) on June 23 is spent awake by the glow of a bonfire and in pursuit of a magical fern flower—said to bring good luck—before cleansing one’s face in the morning dew.

SOLSTICE FUN FACTS

The solstice does NOT bring the earliest sunrise

Although the day of the solstice has the most daylight hours of the year, the earliest sunrises of the year occur before the summer solstice. The exact timing will depend in part on your latitude: In the mid-latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere, it occurs about a week earlier than the June solstice.

The reason for the timing of sunrises is related to the inclination of the Earth’s rotational axis and Earth’s elliptical (rather than circular) orbit.

The latest sunsets of the year will occur several days after the solstice, again depending on latitude.

The Sun sets more slowly at the solstice

Did you know that the Sun actually sets more slowly around the time of a solstice, in that it takes longer to set below the horizon? This is related to the angle of the setting Sun. The farther the Sun sets from due west along the horizon, the shallower the angle of the setting Sun. (Conversely, it’s faster at or near the equinoxes.) Bottom line, enjoy those long, romantic summertime sunsets at or near the solstice!

Seasons on Other Planets

· Mercury has virtually no tilt (less than one-thirtieth of a degree) relative to the plane of its orbit and, therefore, does not experience true seasons.

· Uranus is tilted by almost 98 degrees and has seasons that last 21 years.

SUMMER SOLSTICE FOLKLORE

· Deep snow in winter, tall grain in summer. –Estonian proverb

· When the summer birds take their flight, goes the summer with them.

· If it rains on Midsummer’s Eve, the filbert crops will be spoiled. –Unknown

· One swallow never made a summer.

· Easterly winds from May 19 to 21 indicate a dry summer.

· If there are many falling stars during a clear summer evening, expect thunder. If there are none, expect fine weather.

See charts and graphs at website.

ATTACHMENT TWO – FROM WHITEHOUSE.COM

BRIEFINGS & STATEMENTS

PRESIDENTIAL MESSAGE ON FATHER’S DAY

The White House June 21, 2026

This Father’s Day, we honor the men who are the backbone of our families and the strength of our Republic—the driving force behind 250 glorious years of American prosperity and success. 

The American father has always stood as the most enduring pillar of our Nation.  He provides for his family through hard work, personal sacrifice, and an unrelenting refusal to quit.  He protects his loved ones and his home with an unshakable resolve, and he defends the American way of life by raising children who love our country, honor our history, and carry our proud traditions with them into the future.  He shapes the next generation, passing down the great American values of faith, personal responsibility, and sense of duty that have defined our way of life for two and a half centuries.  The strength and self-sacrifice of our fathers are the foundation upon which our great Nation was built, and it is their devotion that preserves the nuclear family as one of the most powerful and enduring forces for good in our country.

The fierce determination every dad carries to protect his family and pass down the blessings of America to his children are at the heart of what my Administration is working to achieve.  As President, I was proud to launch the historic Trump Accounts because responsible fatherhood means preparing children for success, and this initiative gives parents a new way to invest in their children’s future and the promise of the next generation.  Through the Working Families Tax Cuts Act, we are putting more money back into the pockets of hardworking dads, who power our Nation and whose dedication has been the lifeblood of American prosperity for generations.  We are also keeping our neighborhoods safe by securing our borders, removing deadly drugs and criminal illegal aliens from our streets, and standing firmly behind the police and prosecutors—and as a result, violent crime has dropped to the lowest levels our country has seen in over 80 years.  We are delivering these incredible victories for the same reason:  to give fathers across our country the freedom and opportunity to build the American Dream for the people they love most.

On this Father’s Day, America pays tribute to every father and father figure, whether by birth, adoption, foster care, or the sheer force of a good man’s example, and honors the extraordinary strength and dedication they bring to their families and our beloved country.  My Administration will always stand behind them, working tirelessly to ensure every father and his family experience the full promise and prosperity of this new Golden Age of America.

Related

· Father’s Day, 2025

Presidential Actions, Proclamations

June 13, 2025

· Presidential Message on Mother’s Day

Briefings & Statements

May 10, 2026

· Presidential Message on the Feast of Saint Joseph

Briefings & Statements

March 19, 2026

· Presidential Message on Victory Day for World War I

Briefings & Statements

November 11, 2025

· Presidential Message on the Birthday of President John Adams 

ATTACHMENT THREE – FROM TIMEANDDATE.COMY

WHEN IS FATHER'S DAY 2026?

QUICK FACTS

This year:	Sun, Jun 21, 2026
Next year:	Sun, Jun 20, 2027
Last year:	Sun, Jun 15, 2025
Type:	State Legal Holiday Arizona Observance See table

List of dates for other years

Related Holiday

· Mother's Day, May 9, 2027

Upcoming holidays in the United States

Holidays in the United States 2026

Holidays in the United States 2027

Father’s Day in the United States is celebrated on the third Sunday of June. This special day honors fatherhood and the positive role that fathers and father figures play in the lives of their children and families.

WHEN IS FATHER’S DAY IN THE US?

In the United States, Father’s Day is celebrated on the third Sunday of June.

IS FATHER’S DAY A PUBLIC HOLIDAY?

Father’s Day is not a federal holiday, but it is recognized as a state legal holiday in Arizona. However, this recognition does not mean it is a paid public holiday.

Most government offices and some businesses remain closed, as is typical for Sundays. However, many restaurants and retail stores stay open, and some may offer special hours or promotions for families.

Best days to take off in the US in 2026

A DAY TO SAY THANK YOU

Father’s Day is a meaningful day widely observed across the United States. It is a time to thank fathers, stepfathers, grandfathers, guardians, and other male role models for their love, guidance, and support.

Whether it’s a quiet meal or a big celebration, this day is all about showing appreciation for the important role fathers play in our lives.

HISTORY OF FATHER’S DAY IN THE US

The idea of celebrating Father’s Day started in the early 1900s. In 1908, Grace Golden Clayton held a church service in Fairmont, West Virginia, to honor fathers who died in the 1907 mining disaster in Monongah, West Virginia.

A year later, Sonora Smart Dodd, a young woman from Spokane, Washington, proposed a national Father’s Day. Inspired by a Mother’s Day sermon, she wanted to honor her father, William Jackson Smart, a Civil War veteran and widower who raised his six children alone.

Sonora approached the Spokane Ministerial Alliance for support. Although she suggested June 5, her father’s birthday, the alliance opted for the third Sunday in June to give pastors more time to prepare their sermons.

With help from local churches, community groups, and the Spokane Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA), the first Father’s Day celebration was held on June 19, 1910.

In 1916, President Woodrow Wilson visited Spokane and spoke at a Father’s Day service, showing early presidential support. The idea gained momentum over time.

By the 1930s, advertisers and retailers began promoting Father’s Day as a commercial holiday, encouraging people to buy gifts and cards. The National Council for the Promotion of Father’s Day helped push the holiday into wider public acceptance through marketing campaigns.

In 1966, President Lyndon B. Johnson issued a presidential proclamation recognizing Father’s Day. In 1972, President Richard Nixon signed it into law as an official national observance.

HOW DO PEOPLE CELEBRATE FATHER’S DAY IN THE US?

Many people spend time with their fathers or father figures. Common ways to celebrate include:

· giving gifts like tools, gadgets, books, or homemade crafts

· sharing meals together, such as family barbecues or picnics

· enjoying outdoor activities, including fishing, hiking, or watching sports

· attending church services or local celebrations honoring fathers

Children often make cards, drawings, or homemade gifts for their fathers or father figures. Adults may call, visit, or plan a family outing. Restaurants are usually busy, as many families dine out.

SYMBOLS AND TRADITIONS

Father’s Day doesn’t have any official symbols, but certain items and traditions are commonly associated with it:

· neckties: a classic gift choice

· greeting cards: a simple and common way to say thanks

· family time: the main tradition is spending time with loved ones

ATTACHMENT FOUR – FROM WEATHER.COM

SUMMER 2024'S BEST AND WORST US WEATHER CITIES

It's hard to believe summer is ending. Here are our picks for the locations that had a summer to remember, or forget.

ByJonathan Erdman August 31, 2024

The Worst And Best Weather Of Summer 2024

Saturday wraps up summer 2024, and while some locations in the U.S. have seen relatively little excessive heat or thunderstorms, others have been much less fortunate.

Meteorologists group the seasons into clean three-month buckets based on annual temperatures, not strictly on the tilted Earth's path around the sun. Meteorological summer runs from June through August.

We took a look back at the nation's weather to come up with the three best and worst weather cities in summer 2024.

Worst Weather Cities of Summer 2024

3. Boise, Idaho

Boise sweltered through its second-hottest summer in records dating to before Idaho's statehood, behind only 2021. It tied for its second-most days with triple-digit heat (20) and had its second-hottest daily low temperature of 82 degrees on July 22. That's a low typical of the Gulf Coast in summer, not a semi-arid Great Basin city at 2,700 feet elevation.

But it wasn't just the heat.

A rash of wildfires in the Great Basin and interior Northwest, both in Idaho and adjacent states, pumped plumes of smoke over Idaho's Treasure Valley. According to data from the Environmental Protection Agency, the Boise metro area had at least "unhealthy" air quality 17 days from July into August. At times, it reached very unhealthy levels, and was among the nation's worst air quality.

(Further beef up your forecast with our detailed, hour-by-hour breakdown for the next 8 days – only available on our Premium Pro experience.)

2. St. Johnsbury, Vermont

In July 2023, Vermont and other parts of the Northeast were swamped by massive flooding that claimed 10 lives and cost an estimated $2.2 billion damage. This past July, the Green Mountain State was hit by two destructive floods.

From July 10-11, up to 6 inches of rain from the remnants of Hurricane Beryl washed away roads and inundated homes and businesses in upstate New York and northern Vermont, claiming two lives.

Just 19 days later, a small area of torrential rain overnight from July 29-30 destroyed homes and washed out roads in Vermont's "Northeast Kingdom".

St. Johnsbury, Vermont, hit by both events, had two of its four wettest days on record dating to 1894 and topped its previous record wettest month by over 6 inches.

If that wasn't enough, they also had their hottest summer in their 131-year record book.

1. Ruidoso, New Mexico

As impactful as the twin Vermont floods were, nowhere in the U.S. endured nearly the parade of events as one New Mexico town.

It began the day after Father's Day when two large wildfires flared up near Ruidoso. One of those, the South Fork fire, prompted an evacuation of this town in the Sierra Blanca Mountains about 135 miles south-southeast of Albuquerque. The fires charred more than 1,500 structures and 500 homes, the Albuquerque Journal reported, and claimed two lives.

That was only the opening chapter of this saga. New Mexico's monsoon season then kicked into gear, with nearly daily thunderstorm downpours running off ground singed by the fires, triggering muddy, debris-strewn flows into Ruidoso and neighboring towns.

The National Weather Service issued flash flood warnings for these debris flows in Ruidoso an incredible 25 separate days from June 19 through August 29. On eight of those days, flooding was serious enough to prompt the NWS to upgrade to a rarely-issued flash flood emergency for the town.

Imagine fearing an isolated, slow-moving summer thunderstorm for weeks after a wildfire chased you from your home.

Other rough summer 2024 weather

- Chicago: While summer's heat wasn't extreme, the July 15 derecho not only knocked out power to hundreds of thousands, but also spawned 32 tornadoes in northeast Illinois and northwest Indiana, the most on record for any day in the forecast area covered by the NWS-Chicago office.

- Houston: Hurricane Beryl triggered massive power outages lasting for days during what was a top 10 hottest summer.

- Oxford, Connecticut: This part of southwest Connecticut measured up to 14.83 inches of rain on August 18 in what may have been the state's heaviest 24-hour rainfall on record, topping rain from 1955's Hurricane Diane. The destructive flash flooding claimed at least two lives.

- Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands: Ernesto flooded roads and knocked out power to hundreds of thousands. It was also San Juan's hottest summer on record.

- South Carolina: Up to 22 inches of rain from Debby flooded parts of the Palmetto State for weeks after.

Best Weather Cities of Summer 2024

It wasn't all gloom and doom. Let's end on a happier note and highlight a couple of cities where summer's heat was relatively under control and weather was more delightful than usual.

Seattle

Except for a sizzling early July, summer wasn't persistently hot in Seattle. Both June and August were cooler than average.

And while wildfires were a frequent problem in the interior Northwest, Seattle didn't see much wildfire smoke, according to EPA data.

Temperature departures from average (degrees Celsius) in summer 2024 through Aug. 26, the most current data available at the time this article was published.

Kansas City

Known for scorching summers, Kansas City had both a cooler-than-average July and August.

Eight August days had high temperatures only in the 70s. Four of those August days had morning lows in the 50s, no doubt prompting some to reach for a light jacket, not top of mind in summer.

This generally cooler weather also kept the usual rash of summer severe thunderstorms and heavy rain relatively at bay.

Jonathan Erdman is a senior meteorologist at weather.com and has been covering national and international weather since 1996. His lifelong love of meteorology began with a close encounter with a tornado as a child in Wisconsin.

ATTACHMENT FIVE – FROM CNN

THIS IS THE SUMMER OF FLOODING ACROSS THE US, AND SCIENTISTS KNOW WHY

By Andrew Freedman Updated Jul 20, 2025

Once synonymous with leisure and reprieve, summer has increasingly become a season marked by anxiety and disruption. Fossil fuel pollution — alongside other compounding factors — has transformed these months into a time of mounting peril, punctuated by relentless heat waves, rampant wildfires and catastrophic flooding.

This summer, in particular, has been defined by a tragic surge in deadly flash floods across the United States, underscoring the escalating volatility of our warming world.

It’s no accident this is the summer of flooding, climate scientists say, with 100-year to 1,000-year deluges happening nearly simultaneously in multiple states on multiple days.

Large parts of the US have seen an unusually humid summer with record amounts of moisture in the air. When cold fronts and other weather systems come along, that moisture can get wrung out, squeezed like a water-laden sponge, yielding heavy and often highly localized downpours.

For much of the summer, the atmospheric conditions over the US have funneled humid air north from the unusually warm Gulf and western Atlantic, including the Gulf Stream, UCLA climate researcher Daniel Swain told CNN. This has yielded unusually high levels of moisture at all levels of the atmosphere across the US east of the Rockies, Swain said.

It has led to record levels of what meteorologists call precipitable water, which is the amount of rain that would result from instantaneously extracting all the water in the air.

This pattern has led to one flash flood after another.

First and foremost, there was the devastating Texas flood that killed more than 130 people on the night of July 4. But flash flood events have been focused elsewhere as well. Three people were killed in a flash flood related to torrential rains falling on a wildfire burn scar in Ruidoso, New Mexico, on July 8.

Some major roads in Chicago were suddenly under water when a 1,000-year rainfall event struck in early July. In portions of North Carolina, the remnants of Tropical Storm Chantal led to deadly heavy rain and flooding the same weekend as the Texas tragedy. In New York City, water rushed into the subway tunnels when the city saw its second-heaviest rainfall total in one hour on July 14, with widespread flash flooding lasting into the 15th. And this past week, it was Kansas City’s turn to flood on July 17.

Some of these floods resulted from rainfall that has a return frequency of about 1,000 years, meaning it has just a 0.1% chance of occurring in any given year. But climate change is loading the dice in favor of extreme precipitation.

“When we talk about e.g. ‘1000 year’ events, we’re talking about the likelihood of these events in the absence of human-caused warming (i.e. how often we would expect them from natural variability alone),” said climate scientist Michael Mann of the University of Pennsylvania. “These events are of course much more frequent *because* of human-caused warming,” he said in an email.

But his research has identified other factors, such as persistent large-scale weather patterns known as “atmospheric resonance,” that can make extreme weather, including floods, even more likely. Just as sound waves or ocean waves can resonate and reinforce each other, atmospheric resonance can happen to undulating jet stream patterns in the upper atmosphere, resulting in weather systems that stay in place for weeks.

A recent study Mann worked on found such weather patterns have tripled in incidence since the mid-20th century during the summer months. The problem is these patterns are “not necessarily well-captured in climate models,” he said. This increases uncertainty about future projections for extreme weather trends.

The influence of climate change on heavy rainfall is most evident when it comes to short duration extreme events, like what has happened repeatedly this summer, according to Swain.

“It is not average precipitation that really is most affected by climate change,” Swain said. “It truly is mathematically correct that the more extreme the rain event, the clearer the connection to climate change is.”

The physics of how global warming affects heavy precipitation events is well known, according to climate scientist Kate Marvel.

“This is almost a textbook example of climate change impacts,” she told CNN. “The science behind it is so basic you can see it in daily life. Warm water drives more evaporation — the bathroom gets much steamier after a hot bath than a cold one,” she said.

“Warm air contains more water vapor — a cold beer gets wet on the outside on a hot day, because when air comes into contact with the cooler surface, it has to condense out its water vapor,” Marvel said.

FORESHADOWING

An unprecedented number of flood emergencies ravaged the US in 2024. It was a warning of what was to come

Record numbers of an extreme warning show the reality of climate change

“Warm ground makes it easier for moist air to balloon upwards – this is why thunderstorms happen on hot summer afternoons. Put these all together, and you get the perfect conditions for torrential rain,” said Marvel, author of the new climate book “Human Nature.”

“Whether a downpour turns into a catastrophic flood depends on a lot of things: how porous the ground is, the topography of the area, the people and things in harm’s way. But there is absolutely no doubt that climate change, caused by human emissions of greenhouse gases, is making extreme rainfall more extreme.”

ATTACHMENT SIX – FROM PHYS.ORG

SUMMER IS GETTING LONGER, AND IT'S HAPPENING FASTER THAN WE THOUGHT

by Erik Rolfsen, University of British Columbia April 8, 2026

Summer weather is arriving earlier, lasting longer and packing more heat than it used to—and it's happening faster than scientists had previously measured. A new study by UBC researchers has found that between 1990 and 2023, the average summer between the tropics and the polar circles grew about six days longer per decade. That's up from roughly four days per decade found in past research investigations up until the early 2010s.

For many cities, the numbers are even more striking. In Sydney, Australia, summer temperatures now last about 130 days, up from 80 days in 1990, adding 15 days per decade. Toronto summers are expanding by eight days per decade.

The researchers didn't use the calendar definition of summer (June through August in the Northern Hemisphere and December through February in the Southern Hemisphere). Instead, they defined summer based on the weather: the stretch of days each year when temperatures rise above what was historically typical for a given location during the warmest part of the year—a threshold set using climate data from 1961 to 1990.

The study's findings have implications for agriculture, water supply, public health and energy systems, many of which have been built around assumptions about when the warm season begins and ends.

"These findings challenge what we believe to be the normal cycle of the seasons," said lead author Ted Scott, a Ph.D. student in UBC's department of geography. "When summer happens and how quickly it arrives impact patterns and behaviors in plant and animal life, and human society."

SEASONS ARE CHANGING GEARS MORE QUICKLY

The study also found that seasonal transitions—the shift from spring to summer and from summer to autumn—are becoming more abrupt. Instead of a gradual warm-up, summer-like temperatures arrive more suddenly. This could disrupt systems that depend on seasonal cues; for example, flowers may bloom before pollinators are active, crops may need to be planted earlier, and rapid spring warming may lead to faster snowmelt and greater spring flood risk.

"The changes may be very disruptive to a wide range of systems," Scott said. "An expectation in the Northern Hemisphere that June is when summer starts may be ingrained in planning and policy, meaning we could be ill-prepared for earlier heat."

The heat is adding up—faster than before

The study, published in the journal Environmental Research Letters, also introduces a new way of measuring cumulative heat that builds up over a summer, combining temperature and time. By this measure, accumulated summer heat over Northern Hemisphere land is rising more than three times faster since 1990 than it did from 1961 to 1990.

The study found that coastal areas in the Northern Hemisphere are seeing some of the fastest growth in summer length and accumulated heat, which could affect millions of people who have moved to these areas in part because of their perceived moderate climate.

Scott and co-authors Dr. Rachel White, professor in the department of Earth, ocean, and atmospheric sciences and Dr. Simon Donner, professor in the department of geography and the Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability, analyzed temperature data spanning 1961 to 2023 across land, ocean and coastal zones in both hemispheres, and examined trends in 10 cities around the world.

The research points to urgent questions for future study: How will longer, faster-transitioning summers affect the timing of extreme weather events? What will earlier spring heat mean for food supply, given that growing seasons are shifting but daylight—a key driver of plant growth—is not? And do today's climate models that inform planning and policy fully capture these trends or do they need updating?

For now, the study makes tangible what many people may have sensed—that the rhythm of the year is changing, and that this change is happening faster than most of us realized.

ATTACHMENT SEVEN – FROM ACCUWEATHER VIA YAHOO

SUMMER FORECAST 2026: HEAT, SEVERE STORMS TO SHAPE THE SEASON AS EL NIÑO DEVELOPS, STRENGTHENS

By Brian Lada Wed, April 29, 2026 at 6:41 AM EDT

Summer 2026 is expected to bring a volatile mix of heat, severe thunderstorms and flooding to the United States, with El Niño developing and flexing its influence on the weather pattern.

WHERE WILL IT BE A HOT SUMMER?

A hot summer is predicted across most of the contiguous United States in 2026, with almost no areas expected to have temperatures below the historical average for the season. The widespread heat will drive up energy demand and could lead to higher electric bills.

The worst of the heat will focus across parts of California, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Washington and Wyoming, fueling a widespread fire threat.

"Northwest, Great Basin wildfires can be destructive this summer, along with impressive heat waves and increasing drought conditions," AccuWeather Meteorologist Brandon Buckingham said.

The heat will not be limited to the West. AccuWeather is predicting the number of 90-degree days to be near or above the historical average in Boston, Chicago, New York City and Philadelphia.

In the Northeast, there could be a "late surge of heat and higher humidity," according to AccuWeather Long-Range Expert Paul Pastelok. The added humidity will boost AccuWeather RealFeel® Temperatures during the day and contribute to warmer nights.

SEVERE WEATHER THREATS

Severe weather is expected to be most active from early to midsummer across the Plains, Midwest and Ohio Valley, with the storms shifting farther east later in the season.

"The number of tornadoes can run near to above average in June and July," Pastelok said. "The numbers can drop off dramatically in August." While the tornado threat could be lower, severe thunderstorms will persist through August.

In July and August, there will be a rising risk of destructive lines of thunderstorms known as derechos. A derecho is much more powerful than a typical thunderstorm and is sometimes called an "inland hurricane" because of the widespread wind damage it can cause. Winds can exceed 100 mph, strong enough to flatten cornfields and trigger power outages that last for days in the summer heat.

On June 20, 2025, intense thunderstorms broke out across North Dakota, spawning the first EF5 tornado in 12 years. That severe weather event also featured an intense derecho that raced across 800 miles in about 12 hours and unleashed winds up to 106 mph.

FLOODING THREAT, WITH DROUGHT WORSENING IN SOME AREAS

Summer thunderstorms could help ease drought concerns in the mid-Atlantic and parts of the central U.S., but they may also raise the risk of flash flooding, including in parts of the Texas Hill Country.

On July 4, 2025, deadly flash floods swept through Kerr County, Texas, resulting in more than 100 deaths, between $18 billion and $22 billion in economic damage and long-lasting impacts on the local community.

The Texas Hill Country is just one of several areas that face a flood risk this summer.

"Flash flood events are expected in parts of the Plains, Mississippi Valley and Ohio Valley on a higher frequency this summer," Pastelok said.

Flooding can also be a concern in the Southwest and southern Rockies when the North American monsoon ramps up and tropical moisture surges northward. In those areas, flash flooding and mudslides could lead to road closures, especially in burn scars and steep terrain.

While flooding is a concern in some parts of the country, drought is expected to worsen in others. Drought conditions are likely to expand across the Northwest and Northern California, and long dry stretches could also intensify drought along parts of the Gulf Coast and the southern and central Appalachians.

MONSOON SEASON COULD BRING RELIEF BUT NOT WITHOUT RISK

The North American monsoon is expected to be close to the historical average overall but will likely come in spurts throughout the season, according to AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Chad Merrill.

Moisture could start to arrive near the end of June, which is slightly earlier than normal. That may bring some welcome relief to the Southwest after a hot, dry start to the summer. However, the monsoon may weaken or shift at times during July, leading to breaks in rainfall.

Tropical moisture from the eastern Pacific may also add to rainfall totals this year, including in parts of southern California and Nevada. That could help interrupt the dry season at times, but it may also bring flash flooding, mudslides and even dry thunderstorms with lightning strikes that ignite new fires.

Any monsoon rain will be welcome across the Southwest following a winter with little snowfall in the mountains. Rain could bring some short-term relief to the Colorado River Basin and help feed into Lake Mead and Lake Powell, which are both facing some of the lowest water levels since their construction.

EL NIÑO WILL SHAPE THE SUMMER PATTERN

El Niño is expected to develop early in the summer and will have a growing influence on the tropics and the broader weather pattern across the United States through the rest of 2026.

The large-scale climate pattern is linked to ocean temperatures near the equator of the Pacific Ocean. When sea surface temperature anomalies over a particular area of the east-central Equatorial Pacific are at least 0.5 of a degree Celsius (0.9 of a degree Fahrenheit) above long-term historical averages, an El Niño is born.

A developing El Niño should help boost tropical activity in the eastern Pacific while keeping the Atlantic season near to below average overall.

"Other impacts this summer can be wetter conditions across the central Plains, Mississippi Valley and Ohio Valley," Pastelok explained. "Temperatures can heat up quickly in the Northwest with drier conditions as well. Severe weather can pick up in June and July with near- to above-average tornadoes from the Plains to the East Coast."

El Niño is forecast to strengthen and could evolve into a rare "super El Niño" later in 2026 when it could have bigger impacts on the weather across the United States in the final months of 2026 and the start of 2027.

BOTTOM LINE:

•The hottest weather compared to average will focus on the West and Northwest.
•Severe weather is expected to be most active in June and July from the Plains to the Midwest and Ohio Valley.
•The flooding zone to watch most closely runs from Texas to the Ohio Valley, including the area of the Texas Hill Country that was devastated in 2025.
•The monsoon may bring some relief to the Southwest, but it could also trigger flash flooding, mudslides and lightning-sparked fires.
•Drought is expected to worsen in the Northwest, Northern California and parts of the Gulf Coast and Southeast.

ATTACHMENT EIGHT – FROM THE CONVERSATION

SUMMER’S SILENT KILLER: WHY THE WORLD’S HEATWAVES ARE A GLOBAL HEALTH EMERGENCY

Published: June 22, 2026 12:02pm EDT

@correct

Print article

Heat is no longer a future climate risk. It is already here.

Across continents, high temperatures are being pushed higher by forces acting at once: human-caused warming, very warm oceans, dry soils, slow-moving high-pressure weather systems and   conditions that have now developed in the  .

El Niño is a natural warming of part of the tropical Pacific that can shift weather patterns around the world. It is not the cause of climate change, but when it develops in a climate already warmed by greenhouse gas pollution, it can add another push to global temperatures and regional extremes.

The  . Greenhouse gases have raised the baseline, so heatwaves now begin from a warmer starting point.   adds more energy to the climate system. Dry ground can intensify heat, because less of the sun’s energy goes into evaporating water from soil and plants, and more goes into heating the air.

Weather patterns decide where that heat lands. A “heat dome” happens when a high-pressure system settles over a region. Air sinks, clouds are suppressed and temperatures can climb for days. The danger grows when nights remain hot, because bodies, buildings and infrastructure get little chance to cool.

El Niño’s effects  , so it will not explain every heatwave in 2026. But it is now being added to long-term warming, and that combination can raise the risk of more extreme heat, drought or heavy rainfall in some regions, including parts of Asia, Australia and the Americas.

In the UK,  , provisionally breaking the national May temperature record for the second day in a row.  , before the 2026 heat, was 32.8°C, reached in 1922 and 1944.

Elsewhere, the same pattern is visible. Spring 2026 was the hottest spring recorded in France  . In the United States, March 2026 was the warmest March on record   (the lower 48 states). India’s meteorological service issued an extended heatwave outlook   for parts of northern, central and eastern India, while China’s National Climate Center has  , especially in southern China and Xinjiang in the north west. In Australia, Tasmania, Victoria and New South Wales have just had one of their  .

Heat kills

Heat often kills without leaving obvious damage behind: it pushes bodies past what they can tolerate.

, strain the heart, worsen kidney disease and aggravate respiratory illness. Heat can also  . Older people, babies, people with chronic illness, outdoor workers and those living alone are among those  .

Hot nights make heatwaves more dangerous because the body has less chance to recover. Research has linked high nighttime temperatures with  . In an overheated bedroom, care home or hospital ward, strain can continue for hours.

The death toll from heat is large, but often underestimated because heat may worsen existing illness rather than appear as the sole cause of death. A 2025 European analysis estimated  . The   that heat-related deaths among older people have risen sharply, and that hundreds of thousands of people now die globally each year from heat.

Heat also puts pressure on the systems people rely on. Hospitals fill faster. Care homes become harder to cool. Rail lines buckle. Roads soften. Rivers warm and  . Electricity demand rises as people use fans and air-conditioning, while low river flows can affect water quality and supply. A power cut can disrupt cooling, transport, water systems, shops, hospitals and communications.

What helps during a heatwave

People can reduce risk, especially if they act before they feel ill.

Cool the body early: drink water regularly, use shade, take cool showers and put wet cloths on the skin. People who have been told to restrict fluids because of heart failure, kidney disease or another medical condition should follow medical advice about how much to drink.

Avoid being outside in the hottest part of the day where possible. Outdoor workers, athletes and people who travel on foot need particular protection.

Keep homes cooler before they overheat. Close curtains or blinds during the day, especially on windows facing the sun. Open windows after sunset if it is cooler outside than inside. Sleep in the coolest room available.

Check on  . Do they have water, shade, medication, a way to get help and somewhere cooler to go if home becomes unsafe?

Take official warnings seriously. Follow  , local weather warnings and public health advice. Have a simple plan for medicines, transport, pets, food, drinking water and somewhere cooler to go if needed.

Seek urgent medical help if someone becomes confused, faints, has a seizure, collapses, has very hot skin, has a very high temperature, or  .

Inequality and infrastructure

Personal precautions save lives, but they cannot make unsafe housing safe, cool a badly ventilated care home or protect outdoor workers without changes to working conditions.

 is shaped by inequality. People without trees, insulation, ventilation, secure work, clean water or affordable energy are less able to avoid exposure, cool their homes or recover after extreme heat. The same pattern applies between countries: communities that have contributed least to climate change are  , because they have fewer resources for adaptation, healthcare, infrastructure and disaster response.

Adapting to heat  : cooler housing, shaded streets, heat-resilient hospitals, reliable water systems, worker protections, public cooling spaces and early warning systems that reach the people who need them.

Heat and drought are increasingly linked emergencies. Heat increases demand for water and electricity. Drought can reduce supply. Together, they can create failures across health, transport, food, water and energy. Water, health, energy and climate planning  , because stress in one system can quickly spread to another.

The next heatwave will be reported as weather. It should also be understood as a test of housing, healthcare, infrastructure and public protection. A hotter world is already here. The question now is how many heat-related deaths and system failures governments are prepared to accept as normal.

ATTACHMENT NINE – FROM PROSPECTMAGAZINE.ORG U.K.

6/26 @get

(Today, ATTACHMENT TEN) took note of the extreme heat that struck the UK and much of Europe – causing England’s Met Office, to issue amber and then red weather warnings after the forecast highs.

A red extreme heat warning, for those who didn’t know (like, for example, the colonials) means that there’s a danger to life not just for vulnerable people but for all of us. This week’s was only the second ever issued by the Met Office—the first being in 2022. But the novelty of the label—the most serious warning that can be issued—doesn’t change the fact that heat records were again broken this week, and that days like those are more likely to come again in future.

Yet still—despite these warnings echoing across the years and spread across our screens and newspapers—many usually sensible people seemed to approach the heat with a kind of scepticism. “In the United States,” Halliday reports, “Donald Trump’s government is attempting to dismantle a network of more than 900 sensors that deliver critical information about the world’s oceans—just as a powerful El Niño takes hold. Fossil fuel interests are reportedly launching “coordinated attacks” on climate science at UN talks in Bonn. And in the UK, politicians are increasingly questioning established science.

These kinds of incidents may seem unimportant—but they are attacks on our understanding of reality. Of course, we wish that this June heatwave was normal, but it isn’t. And of course we wish that heat wasn’t dangerous, but it is. Weeks like this are going to become a far more regular feature of our lives. It’s human not to want that future to sink in, but we need the evidence—the data from those meteorologists and oceanographers, doctors and economists—to shake us out of our stupor. 

“Denial is a comfort, for a while,” Halliday contends and it (as also the immense profits going to a few persons of power and influence) is why that, as voters in democracies, “a significant number of us choose parties that would tear up our commitments to reduce emissions, would encourage the burning of more fossil fuels, and would try to turn renewable energy into a culture war. The idea that climate action was necessary used to have broad political consensus, even if parties disagreed on the urgency required, or the means of getting there. No longer.”

The Met Office released a fictional forecast for a June day in 2056 based on realistic projections of 2.5 degrees of global warming; “it was worryingly close to what we are already experiencing. And just as politicians are attacking the climate action that citizens still desire, so too is our knowledge and understanding about climate change under attack.

“And we must try to see and feel the world before us as it is. When we choose not to—in this case, not to feel the heat, or to acknowledge its dangers—we are not being brave. We’re seeking comfort in denial.”

ATTACHMENT TEN – FROM USA TODAY

HUGE HEAT DOME IS BUILDING OVER US. HERE'S YOUR FORECAST

By Doyle Rice June 24, 2026 Updated June 25, 2026, 9:28 a.m. ET

Questions:

How does a heat dome trap warm air at the surface?

Which regions face extreme heat during World Cup 2026?

What causes a heat dome to form over the US?

FULL SUMMARY

A massive heat dome is forming over the United States, bringing widespread 90‑degree temperatures, potential 110‑degree heat indices, and unusually warm nights from the Plains to the East ahead of the Fourth of July, with limited thunderstorms inside the dome and safety tips for the public.

Intense heat is on the way for more than half of the country, just in time for the second week of summer.

"A multiday heat wave is brewing across the middle of the nation ahead of the Fourth of July weekend, expanding from the Plains to the Midwest and even nosing into the East," said AccuWeather meteorologist Alex Sosnowski in an online forecast.

The upcoming heat will likely bring the most widespread 90-degree weather so far this year across parts of the central and eastern states, AccuWeather said.

HOW HOT WILL IT GET?

NOAA's Weather Prediction Center said hot weather will be the story this coming weekend from the Plains to the Ohio Valley, with widespread above-average temperatures expected thanks to a strong upper-level ridge of high pressure (aka heat dome) developing.

Highs in the 90s are expected as far north as the Great Lakes and Minnesota, and 100s for much of Texas. Heat indices approaching 110 degrees are possible from the mid-South to the central Gulf Coast where the combination of heat and high dew points will be greatest.

Overnight lows will also be quite warm, with some record high minimums possible.

For much of next week, the core of the heat dome is likely to be centered on the Ohio Valley, the middle portion of the Mississippi Valley and the Tennessee Valley, according to AccuWeather. At times, the heat will expand outward and reach parts of the Plains, the Great Lakes, the East and the Gulf Coast.

"It will turn very hot and humid in the East by early next week (June 29-30)," AccuWeather senior meteorologist Chad Merrill said. "Multiple days with highs well into the 90s are likely along the Interstate 95 corridor in the mid-Atlantic."

WHAT IS A HEAT DOME?

Heat domes, also called ridges of high pressure or death ridges, are large bulges of sinking warm air that can stretch up to 1,000 miles in summer, driving temperatures 30  degrees above normal and creating hazardous, drying conditions that often lead to deadly, multi‑day heat waves, Weather.com said.

According to climatecheck.com, the term describes the "oppressive" high-pressure atmospheric systems that cause warm air to be pushed to the Earth's surface and trapped there for long periods of time.

"The dome traps high-pressure air in one place, like the lid on a pot," the website said. "These large zones of hot air result in a combination of blistering temperatures, devastating wildfires, and drought conditions."

See charts and graphs at www.wpc/ncep.noaa.gov and www.weather.gov

WHAT CAUSES A HEAT DOME?

A heat dome occurs when a persistent region of high pressure traps heat, said William Gallus, professor of meteorology at Iowa State University.

"The heat dome can stretch over several states and linger for days to weeks, leaving the people, crops and animals below to suffer through stagnant, hot air that can feel like an oven," Gallus said in an article in The Conversation.

HOW LONG WILL IT LAST?

While the heat dome in the central states is forecast to ease up during the second week in July, temperatures will still remain a few degrees above the historical average in much of the Plains and the Midwest, AccuWeather's Merrill said.

The core of the heat should then shift into the West toward the middle of July, he said.

WHAT ABOUT THUNDERSTORMS?

Within the core of the heat dome, little to no thunderstorm activity is likely, Sosnowski said. However, rounds of thunderstorms will be possible leading up to and on the rim of the heat from portions of the Plains to the Upper Midwest and Northeast, AccuWeather said.

"A round or two of severe thunderstorms with damaging winds and flooding downpours from the Dakotas to the northern Mississippi Valley and Great Lakes is expected late this weekend into early next week," Merrill said.

TIPS ON KEEPING COOL

· Drink water, more than usual, no matter how active you are. Don't wait until you're thirsty. Make sure your pets have plenty to drink.

· Avoid sugary, alcoholic or caffeinated liquids. They can increase body fluid loss.

· Stay in air-conditioned buildings as much as possible.

· Take cool showers or baths.

· Limit outdoor activity, especially in the middle of the day.

· Use drapes or shades on windows to keep out the sun.

· Limit oven and stove use to keep in-home temperatures lower. 

· Wear light-colored, loose-fitting clothing to improve perspiration evaporation.

WHAT ELSE CAN YOU DO?

· Check on well-being of friends and neighbors – do they need help in keeping cool?

· Never leave people or pets in a closed car, even with partially open windows. The interior can rapidly reach dangerous temperatures.

· Seek immediate medical care for people with symptoms of heat illness.

Doyle Rice is a national correspondent for USA TODAY, with a focus on weather and climate.

ATTACHMENT ELEVEN – FROM AL JAZEERA

EUROPE FACES ANOTHER DAY OF EXTREME HEAT AFTER MORE TEMPERATURE RECORDS SET

France under extreme heat alert as 63 million endure 30+C (86+F) temperatures, with widespread power outages in Brittany.

By Al Jazeera Staff and AFP Published On 25 Jun 2026 25 Jun 2026

Europe is experiencing another day of extreme heat with at least 101 million people expected to face temperatures exceeding 35 degrees Celsius (95 Fahrenheit), including 50 million in France and 18 million in Germany, according to calculations by the AFP news agency.

On Thursday, maximum temperatures are expected to surpass 30C (86F) for more than 380 million people across Europe, representing nearly two-thirds of the population, according to an analysis based on forecasts from the German weather service and 2025 population projections from the Joint Research Centre.

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The figures broadly align with projections by the Austrian NGO Klimadashboard, and are up from Wednesday, when the German weather service said 94 million people were affected by temperatures exceeding 35C.

The heat will also surpass 30C for 70 million people in Germany, 48 million in Italy and 38 million in Britain.

Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands will also be affected by the heatwave searing much of Western Europe since last weekend, as will people in Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Croatia.

The UK on Thursday recorded its hottest ever June temperature, with the mercury reaching 36.4C in the western English county Somerset, breaking the previous record of 36.1C set just under 24 hours earlier.

The UK’s Met Office weather service said the record-breaking June temperature had been clocked in the village of Yeovilton, after Wednesday’s high was reached further east in Gosport, Hampshire.

Switzerland also registered its hottest ever June temperature on Thursday, with 38C measured in the northern city of Basel, breaking a previous record of 36.9C set eight decades ago, the Swiss weather service said.

HEAT-RELATED DEATHS

In mainland France, about 63 million people are expected to experience temperatures of more than 30C. The French weather agency put three-quarters of the country under a red alert for extreme heat starting at midday on Thursday until midday Friday.

In the usually temperate Brittany region of northwest France, a heat-related equipment failure knocked out power to tens of thousands of households that had to endure without electric fans.

In the Paris region, a three-year-old was found dead in a car, the third such death of a child this week. Parents found the boy in “the car outside their home”, police said. Civil defence confirmed his death in the town of Saint-Gratien in the Paris suburbs.

In Spain, the heatwave could be linked to 212 deaths between Sunday and Wednesday, according to estimates from a public institute. The MoMo monitoring system compiles daily death statistics in Spain and compares them with the levels forecast, based on historical records.

It also incorporates external factors, such as weather data from the national weather agency AEMET, to assess likely causes of mortality spikes.

Its data registered an excess mortality of 98 deaths for the same four days of 2025, during what was the hottest summer on record in a country on the front line of climate change.

The number of heat-related deaths in Spain between May 16 and September 30 last year hit 3,832, an 87.6-percent increase from the same period in 2024, according to MoMo data.

In mainland Spain, brains in the plains suffered their its highest daily average weekly temperatures in June since at least 1950, with Monday’s figure of 28.08C followed by 28.17C on Tuesday.

Those two days also marked the highest average minimum temperatures for June since 1950, with 20.14C recorded on Monday and 19.81C on Tuesday. These so-called “tropical nights” make sleep challenging and can threaten public health.

The weather sparked the highest alert in parts of northern Spain, including Cantabria and the Basque Country, which are usually spared the harshest heat but where temperatures soared past 40C.

Most weather alerts had been lifted on Thursday, with the lowest yellow level in force in the north.

ATTACHMENT TWELVE – FROM THE GUARDIAN U.K.

CLIMATE SCEPTICS CHEERING AS THEY MELT IN RECORD TEMPERATURES? THIS HEATWAVE IS WHERE SATIRE HAS COME TO DIE

Delegates at an ‘anti-woke’ conference disparaged Ed Miliband’s net zero policies. But even they could not ignore the sweat on their foreheads

By Jonathan Freedland Fri 26 Jun 2026 12.31 EDT

It was hardly a perfect film, but I keep thinking of Don’t Look Up. In its depiction of a world that stubbornly refuses to heed the warnings of an imminent planetary disaster, it was perhaps too on the nose. But these days, reality itself is too on the nose.

This week served up ample evidence, on both sides of the Atlantic. In Britain, like much of Europe, the all-consuming concern has been intense, intolerable heat, with temperature records shattered and swathes of the country under the highest state of alert. For the first time, red warnings were issued in the UK for three consecutive days. Schools have closed; nights have become sleepless, with the mercury rising to meet the technical definition of “tropical”. There are wildfires in Derbyshire. All this in a temperate country in June.

And where is our politics? It has moved on swiftly from what would once have been a rare, even epochal event – the resignation of a prime minister – shifting focus to the coming man, Andy Burnham, and specifically the question of who he might appoint as chancellor. Burnham world is said to be divided over whether it should be Ed Miliband, with some pushing him as a proven Whitehall operator and ideological ally of the next PM, while others fear he would spook the bond markets.

But the loudest argument heard against the present energy secretary, pushed especially forcefully this week, is his advocacy of net zero: the pursuit of zero carbon emissions by 2050. At a rightwing conference in London dubbed the “anti-woke Davos”, Kemi Badenoch told delegates there was a “villain” to blame for Britain’s economic woes. “His name is Ed Miliband and he has made our country poorer,” she said to applause.

The gathering had been convened by the Alliance for Responsible Citizenship, whose backers include the owner of GB News and a string of fossil fuel companies. Among the officials from the current US administration in attendance was Donald Trump’s energy secretary, Chris Wright, himself a former fossil fuel executive, who described Britain’s green policies as a “tragic mistake”. Wright expressed the hope that a change of leadership in the UK would see the country change course and get into line with the US.

Here’s where it all gets very Don’t Look Up. The thousands of anti-abortion activists, opponents of multiculturalism and climate sceptics who gathered at the conference venue in Olympia, west London, were sweltering inside, according to those who were there. As they applauded the likes of Wright, who believes the dangers of the climate crisis have been exaggerated, they were fanning themselves against a London temperature that remained stubbornly above 35C – using a fan handed out in goodie bags and emblazoned with the slogan, “Free speech never felt so cool”.

Now there may well be good reasons to doubt the wisdom of appointing Miliband to No 11 (though those reasons would have to be set against his familiarity with the ways of the Treasury, compatibility with the PM and record as an effective minister). But among them cannot, surely, be the notion that he is too committed to tackling the climate emergency – not in a week like this. You can argue that some green levies are insufficiently progressive, falling on the poor as well as the rich, but to watch as all of Europe wilts under burning heat, as Germany and Poland brace for 40C, and then castigate Miliband for going too far, too fast, is to have life imitate satirical art. It is to align yourself with the characters from the 2021 movie who, on learning that a comet is barrelling at speed towards Earth, decide the solution is to avert their eyes from the sky.

Yet, sadly, it is not only the self-styled anti-woke crowd who are making this mistake. Miliband’s critics include several trade unions, enraged by his opposition to new drilling for oil and gas in the North Sea and the jobs that would bring. Tony Blair’s essay last month made the same case for relaxing the push towards net zero. In Canada, Mark Carney has dismantled multiple green measures, and even the European commission in Brussels is easing the pressure. Given the desperate need for economic growth, I understand why net zero can seem like an unaffordable luxury. But look up: it’s a life-saving essential.

What the film got right is that impending planetary catastrophe can induce a response less egregious but scarcely less dangerous than outright denial – and that is distraction and displacement. Even when faced with incontrovertible evidence of the looming threat, people will find something else to talk about. That was my response to seeing the slightly reddish faces and linen suits of the BBC’s Newsnight panellists on Thursday as they discussed the announcement that King Charles and the queen will no longer live at Buckingham Palace. Don’t get me wrong, it was interesting. But clearly it was also raging hot outside, even as the clock inched towards midnight.

In the US, the subject of the hour is Donald Trump’s apparent mission to Make Metaphor Literal Again, specifically the saga of his botched repairs to the reflecting pool that stands at the foot of the Lincoln memorial. The same US president who promised to “drain the swamp” in Washington DC has created an actual stinking, lurid-green swamp in the centre of the city.

I’m the last person to criticise anyone for talking about this fiasco: on the contrary, my colleague Arwa Mahdawi and I took a deep dive into it – the subject, not the pool – for the latest episode of the Politics Weekly America podcast. This is not a mere media fixation. Trump himself can’t stop talking about it. It merits discussion, because it distils so perfectly the Trump modus operandi: announce a goal on a whim, pay no attention to the obvious risks – and then pretend you’ve succeeded when everyone can see that you’ve failed. Whether it’s war on Iran or war on algae, it’s the same modus operandi.

But, though it’s cathartic to see derision rain on Trump, this too is a distraction. Not only from speaking directly about the climate breakdown – clearly, that cannot be the sole topic of collective discussion, even if sometimes it feels as if it should be – but from speaking about anything else including, say, that war with Iran.

For what was it, exactly, that propelled Trump to cave in so spectacularly to Tehran, agreeing a memorandum of understanding that represents an astonishing capitulation to a regime that, less than six months ago, was gunning down its own citizens in their thousands? He has accepted a deal that leaves Tehran much stronger than it was before the war started on 28 February, that promises $300bn (£225bn) in aid, an end to sanctions and the prospect of Iran charging a lucrative toll on global traffic through the strait of Hormuz. All of that without the regime giving up its enriched uranium, ballistic missiles or support for armed proxies Hezbollah, Hamas and the Houthis. Why would Trump do such a deal? Two words: petrol prices.

The price at the pump had caused Trump’s popularity to tank, and he was ready to do whatever it took to get that number down. In other words, our global addiction to fossil fuel is not only boiling the planet, it is wrecking our world. We can talk about other things, we can look away, we can refuse to look up, but – like the heat bearing down on so many of us at this very moment – we cannot escape it.

· Jonathan Freedland is a Guardian columnist

ATTACHMENT THIRTEEN – FROM KOIN.COM PORTLAND OR

SUMMER SNOW POSSIBLE IN PARTS OF THE PNW THIS WEEK. HERE’S WHAT TO KNOW

by: Josh Cozart Posted: Jun 24, 2026 / 06:06 PM PDT Updated: Jun 24, 2026 / 06:07 PM PDT

SUMMER SNOW SHOWERS ARE POSSIBLE OVER THE CASCADES COME LATE JUNE 2026

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — A rare sight of summer snow is possible for some as cooler and wet weather returns to the Pacific Northwest later this week and weekend.

Extreme heat has been sitting over much of western Oregon and southwest Washington during the early days of the summer season. Now, parts of Oregon are preparing for lower snow elevations to return.

Snow levels are expected to fall to nearly 5,500′ by the weekend. Recent warm weather means that any snow that may fall isn’t expected to stick. However, some of the highest elevations of Oregon’s Three Sisters or Mt. Hood could see a few flakes to nearly 1.5 to 2 inches.

The moisture is a welcome sight, but the chance for a few flakes to a few inches isn’t expected to decrease the drought situation or erase the wildfire concerns in the months ahead.

Any moisture and cooler temperature trends that make their way back into the Pacific Northwest are a welcome sight. The cooler and wetter weather that moves through western Oregon and southwest Washington during the summer months does help to slow the wildfire threat for some amount of time.

ATTACHMENT FOURTEEN – FROM AP

WHAT IS THE 2026 SONG OF THE SUMMER?

By MARIA SHERMAN Updated 12:00 AM EDT, June 24, 2026

What is 2026’s song of the summer?

There’s no easy answer. Algorithmic division is certainly a factor in why there isn’t an obvious pick this year. Where have the songs like “Despacito” in 2017 or “Old Town Road” in 2019 gone? Last year, some even wondered if Alex Warren’s “Ordinary” — a ballad, not a banger — qualified, a departure from the usual up-tempo, feel-good hits.

Whatever your summer mood or flavor, The Associated Press has found a song to soundtrack the season, collected in a Spotify playlist.

Biggest song of the year and therefore the default song of the summer: “Choosin’ Texas,” Ella Langley

Ella Langley broke out just last year with the throwback, spoken-word track “You Look Like You Love Me,” featuring Riley Green, but it’s her breakup banger “Choosin’ Texas” that has made her a crossover country star. Not only has it spent more time at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 than any other song this year, it also has some of the most distinctive lyrics of the year. “He always loved ‘Amarillo By Morning,’” she sings in a particularly melancholic verse, referencing the George Strait classic. “I should’ve taken that as a warnin’.” Indeed.

Past champion: “Luther,” Kendrick Lamar and SZA (2025)

ATTACHMENT “A” – FROM USA TODAY

FATHER'S DAY ISN'T THE ONLY THING HAPPENING. JUNE 21 IS JAM-PACKED

By Julia Gomez June 20, 2026 Updated June 21, 2026, 10:12 a.m. ET

June 21, 2026 is a busy holiday calendar in the U.S., featuring Father’s Day and the summer solstice alongside a host of themed observances like International Yoga Day and National Smoothie Day.

Sunday, June 21, is a very busy day. Not only will the U.S. be celebrating Father's Day, but it's also the summer solstice.

Father's Day is a day to honor dads across the country, and this year they'll have a bit more daylight to barbecue, go golfing or relax by the pool thanks to the solstice, which brings the longest day and shortest night of the year.

And the fun doesn't stop there! In addition to celebrating dads, you can also enjoy a refreshing smoothie, take selfies, eat cookie dough and unwind with a bit of yoga.

There's a lot to celebrate on Sunday, June 21. Here's what to know.

More news: Ready for the longest day of 2026?

OTHER CELEBRATIONS TAKING PLACE ON SUNDAY, JUNE 21

Of course, Father's Day and the summer solstice are two of the main events of the day, but according to National Day Calendar and National Today, other celebrations include:

· International Yoga Day

· National Smoothie Day

· National Seashell Day

· National Cookie Dough Day

· National Daylight Appreciation Day

· National Arizona Day

· Go Skateboarding Day

· National Day of the Gong

· World Giraffe Day

· National Turkey Lovers Day

ATTACHMENT “B” - RECONFIGURATION

@begin

	9%	1500/1350 Standard	2013 Std.	2014 Std.		2015 Std.	16	17	18	19	20	1/1/21	1/1/22		1/1/23	1/1/24	1/1/25		1/1/26		6/29/26 Std.		7/1 NEW Reconf.	% up/ down	7/1/26 NEW
Wages (avg.)	9%	1500/1350		1,516.90		1524.69	1557.76	1,436.95	1,470.13	1,498.75	1,554.15	1,411.02	1,503.28		1,408.47	1,477.19	1,545.00		1,963.90		1,904.26		1350	1.4106	@
Median Income	4%	600				606.44	617.56	638.04	669.79	692.84	715.18	666.60	676.93		608.24	613.40	684.89		1,134.02		1,472.81		600	2.4547
Unemployment (BLS)	9%	1350		1,503.09	6%	806.27	934.96	974.73	1,110.17	1,230.21	1,337.66	299.34	477.95		616.52	616.55	543.13		507.20		542.60		600	0.9043
UNEMPLOYMT.	9%	1350																						1.508
Official Unemp. (DC)	2%	300				380.47	439.59	482.59	526.23	572.19	583.71	365.00	578.27		255.31	242.47	230.29		198.64		216.79		300	0.7226
Unofficl. Unemp. (DC)	2%	300				391.57	447.92	451.96	510.50	540.79	631.59	313.49	496.23		304.57	290.01	262.92		235.66		260.14		300	0.8671
Workforce Perc.	2%	300				296.07	299.02	285.48	286.23	284.53	285.58	311.50	324.37	297.75		301.92	299.31		297.93		295.83		300	0.9861
WP % (ychart)	1%	150				@	@	149.52	149.37	151.07	152.02	151.99	152.72	150.23		151.67	151.19		151.19		149.98		150	0.9998
Inflation	7%	1350/1050		1,340.97		1322.03	1319.36	998.86	981.13	961.62	945.38	1,025.48	956.88	1002.57		1002.57		952.88	927.45*		901.77		1350	0.6680
Food	2%	300		297.75		288.05	285.48	287.77	279.82	276.74	272.31	285.26	268.22	282.16		282.16		270.53	262.59		257.37		300	0.8579
Gasoline	2%	300		269.25		337.72	384.78	362.06	296.96	273.67	255.76	374.82	224.50	230.08		230.08		251.55	255.11		181.96		300	0.6065
Medical	2%	300		@		290.54	283.06	271.68	266.75	260.68	249.67	290.24	282.77	291.10		291.10		285.19	274.20		267.14		300	0.8905
Shelter	2%	300		@		@	@	292.90	285.96	278.34	270.37	295.51	284.46	287.63		287.63		258.18		250.63		238.38	300	0.7946
Dow Jones	2%	300		322.97		332.45	301.63	352.17	429.05	420.84	483.90	334.13	387.88	279.30		308.68	342.91		342.91			400.43	300	1.3348
Housing Sales Valuation	1% 1%	150 150		177.12 188.22		176.18 190.86	170.10 204.81	202.10 209.97	212.65 225.87	194.75 228.49	195.69 241.09	196.44 169.35	205.17 178.11	130.84 279.95		123.97 279.71	128.32 286.52		128.32 286.52			137.08 287.30	150 150	0.9139 1.9153
Debt (Personal) Cancelled 3/27 at 265.30	2%	300		288.10		284.57	276.95	268.81	261.28	252.64	239.28	281.11	263.74	280.80		270.31	266.52 Cancelled at 265.30		@			@	@	@
Millionaires (added at 150 5/1/25***)	1%	150	@	@	@	@	@	@	@	@	@	@	@		@	@	5/1 150.00		134.87			137.58	150	0.9172
Paupers (aka lvg. in pov.) (added at 150 5/1/25***)	1%	150															5/1 150.00		135.54			134.77	150	0.8985
GOVT.
Revenues (govt.)	1%	300		159.85	2%	346.83	368.75	378.75	384.70	382.79	404.48	295.33	346.70		407.35	372.94	424.19		464.63			484.29	300	1.6143
Expenditures	1%	300		151.11	2%					252.87	228.60	223.82	217.92		344.12	332.80	288.42		294.21			287.56	300	0.9583
National Debt	3%	450				414.27	394.48	368.25	354.53	333.04	315.99	335.85	311.91		428.90	396.54	370.68		351.16			345.28	450	0.7673
Aggregate Debt	3%	450		437.08		447.75	411.14	385.90	371.45	357.09	339.23	384.89	370.86		425.42	383.16	392.35		375.31			354.13	450	0.7870
TRADE.
Foreign Debt	3%	450		490.05	2%	319.64	320.61	317.75	305.78	317.21	287.13	291.95	269.75 273.73		265.25	316.73	287.56		259.86			253.65	300	0.8455
Exports (in bls.)	1%	150		153.66		158.64	144.66	148.84	160.06	167.19	162.26	153.23	199.00 198.47		202.55	160.74	169.06		180.05			203.57	150	1.3571
Imports (bl.)	1%	150		145.83		141.45	146.51	140.47	132.87	124.10	131.30	139.15	109.00 114.06		107.38	169.60	160.58		150.81			134.69	150	0.8979
Trade Deficit	1%	150				164.72	121.82	110.85	99.66	91.04	115.97	106.29	83.70 100.04		84.22	325.85	285.97		286.58			253.48	150	1.6870
World Peace	1%	150		144.38	3%	415.93	421.45	414.60	425.51	433.02	385.28	408.38	374.92		455.39	455.62	473.97		469.61			468.20	450	1.0404
Terrorism	1%	150		146.99	2%	272.26	241.26	234.31	223.92	219.64	208.85	270.33	217.70		296.85	296.94	292.43		286.02			281.75	300	0.9317
Politics	3%	450				@	@	@	@	437.32	438.24	467.25	442.99		470.11	482.84	479.01		460.68			451.95	450	1.0043
Economics	3%	450				@	@	@	@	438.49	435.68	401.13	406.21		436.16	441.49	437.04		430.50			426.64	450	0.9476
Freedom	(3%)	(450)		460.82	2%	294.08	298.12	@	@	@	@	@	@		@	@	@		@			@	@	@		@
Corruption	(1%)	(150)		170.28		164.89	160.84	312.10	306.51	@	@	@	@		@	@	@		@			@	@	@		@
Crime	3% 1% (2%)	450 150 (300)		448.25	1%	148.05	131.50	246.41	236.76	229.86	224.58	265.92	236.58		273.08	243.81	220.36		207.88			201.94	Std 150 New 300	1.4627 0.6731
god
Weather	3%	450		@		430.42	419.75	394.48	344.38	310.96	286.65	429.17	376.43		433.72	394.62	370.70		281.11			277.49	450	0.6166
Disaster	1%	150		139.80	3%	394.51	393.73	386.19	356.44	345.26	331.47	417.31	218.40* 450.00		446.32	422.96	411.60		461.72			463.09	450	1.0291
Sci, Tech, Ed.	4%	600		711.55	4%	593.41	585.29	581.14	628.14	637.01	655.60	652.21	408.52		632.29	634.67	619.56		613.07			617.97	600	1.0300
Equality	5%	1050				710.13	732.41	727.93	732.33	715.91	680.94	573.36	410.88		605.11	636.82	656.53		675.08			671.70	600	1.0283
Life Expectancy	(2%)	(300)		297.80		292.24	287.72	@	@	@	@	@	@		@	@	@		@			@	@	@		@
Health (Costs)	2%	300		286.38	All	292.58	285.50	568.43	538.89	520.74	509.31	507.86	396.86		476.80	471.51	442.56		417.14			412.58	600	0.6876
Plague:						@	@	@	@	@	@	- 199.41	- 103.65		@	@	@		@			@	@	@		@
Freedom/Justice	3%	450*				153.20	161.18	510.37	500.41	521.91	545.33	447.95	465.04		456.72	470.56	480.20		482.57			478.24	450	1.0629
CULTURAL and MISCELLANEOUS
Cultural	3%	450		2% 300 BASE		299.99	310.40	@	@	450.00	452.57	488.35	535.76		472.63	515.88	544.82		576.29			595.25	450	1.3228
Miscellaneous	6%	900				974.32	1017.05	@	@	443.84	456.09	466.95	489.83		468.85	499.45	530.80		545.58			553.95	450	1.2310